Persona 5: Another Thief
by NamelessPassionate
Summary: Akira Ichijou, a supposed outcast of Shujin Acadamy after a fight with Kamoshida a year ago, had found himself stumbled upon another world of cognition after following Ren Amamiya and Ryuji Sakamoto. Now with the power of his Persona and his teammates, he is going to be the leader of another team of Phantom Thief, Phantom Thief of Heart- Le Fool! (Discontinued, undergoing rewrite)
1. Chapter 1: Another Awaking

9th April, the beginning of another typical year in school even though most students were still in their holiday mood, but not for one student.

"Great...time to face that perverted bastard Kamoshida again..."

Akira Ichjiou, an average 16-year-old who was labeled as 'that brat' because of the violent incident involving him beating Kamoshida. Mumbled while walking toward Shujin, "Let's just hope that bastard won't do anything to Shiho or Ann..."

He had dark brown hair with some natural blue highlight. He also had a blue headphone handing around his neck. His Shujin uniform was almost the same as everyone's, except that he unbuttoned the black jacket to show his blue hoodie inside.

"But that's not going to happen. I'm certain." with a frustrated sigh, Akira reluctantly decided to put on his headphone and unwillingly returned to his path toward Shujin.

Before he realized, he was already inside of the typical classroom of class 2-D. He sat by the window of the regular classroom and continued to merely focus on the familiar music playing in his slick black headphone. Until someone suddenly poked his shoulder, gaining his attention.

"Akira! I didn't expect we were in the same class this year!"It was Ann Takamaki, a young woman with curling platinum blonde hair in pigtails, and she's a quarter American.

"Oh, hey Ann, how was the spring break?"Akira said while taking off his headphone, and tried to squeeze a smile to her.

"It's like that past spring break, I guess."Ann said with a silent sigh, "But the rumor just won't stop..."

"I know," Akira said, dropping his smile. "You're 'that bitch with Kamoshida' while I'm 'that brat who beat Kamoshida,' those assholes do have some creativity."

"But everything's going to be fine, or I hope so." he finally finished with a sigh.

"As long as Kamoshida remains in here, I don't think everything's going to be fine," Ann said.

"Yeah..."

As the bell rang and signaled the beginning of the day, Ann went back to her seat and tried to live through the day.

[After School]

Once the bell, which marked the end of the day rang, Akira instantly exited the classroom and found Shiho Suzui, another young woman with hair in a ponytail held in with a pink elastic band in the and walk up toward her.

"Hey Shiho, you're OK?"Akira said with a worrying face.

"Hey, Akira..."Shiho said with a forced smile, just like what Akira did to Ann earlier, "So you didn't get expelled by Mr. kamoshida."

"Surprise surprise."Akira noticed the bruise and other injuries around her arms and legs and quickly sat next to her, checking her injuries, "My god...it's by Kamoshida, right?"

"N-No., "Shiho stuttered, "It's just from the training during the spring break."

"Please don't lie to me."Akira said while gently squeezing her hand, "It's not OK to constantly suffer injuries like this."

"But..."

"If that bastard did something like this to you again, just tell me."Akira said before, Shiho can complete her sentence, "We're friends, right?"

"..."

Seeing her like this made Akira's heart aching for a bit, but he can't do anything to help both Ann and Shiho. Everyone, down to the parents of those who were suffering knows, They're just accepted or even covering his track.

Akira had tried stopping him from sexually assaulted any of the volleyball team members. However, those attempts just ended in either him failing or fought with Kamoshida himself.

This is a losing battle, and Akira was on the losing side.

[11th April, After class]

Akira was sitting in a chair on the rooftop of Shujin, reading a novel he bought in Shibuya a while ago. Since he was labeled as an outcast, the roof became his place to be alone. Either here or his apartment in Yongen-Jaya.

However, as a sound of two pairs of footsteps quickly approaching, Akira instantly hid behind the large air conditioner. Only to peek around the corner to see Ryuji Sakamoto, a little spiky dyed blond talking to another boy with dark fuzzy hair and a set of black glasses who was Ren Amamiya, the new transfer student in his class.

"Ryuji-Kun and Amamiya-san? why are they here?" Akira quietly mumbled and decided to continued to eavesdrop their conversation.

_"...There you are."_Ryuji said.

_"sorry for callin' you up here like this"_

_"I bet Kawakami already told you stuff like 'Don't get involved with him,' huh?"_

_"how'd you know?"_Ren said.

_"figured as much."_

_"Then again, we're in the same boat."_

'the same boat?'Akira thought while eavesdropping their conversation,'Is there something happened between these two?'

_"I heard you got a criminal record. Everyone's talkin' about it."_

'Yeah...about that...' Akira can't help but felt sorry for Ren; 'Why would something as important as a criminal record be leaked to the school website?'

However, what Akira heard next was surprising.

_"what was all that happened? You know, how we almost got killed at a castle..."_

'Wait, What?! Almost got killed at a castle?' Akira can't help but continue to overheard their conversation, 'This is interesting...'

_"It wasn't a dream...right? You remember it too. right?"_

_"Yeah. That's not a dream, Sakamoto-Kun." Ren pushed his glasses and said, "But why were we thrown into there..."_

_"well, just 'cause be both remember it doesn't mean much though..."_

_"I mean, even if it was a dream, you saved me from Kamoshida."_

'Saved from Kamoshida...' Akira thought while slowly rubbed his chin, 'So they got into a castle and almost got killed, and that castle was somehow related to Kamoshida...'

_"So yeah...Thanks, Ren."_

_"You're welcomed."_

There was a short pause before Ryuji start again, _"But man, that Kamoshida we saw there..."_

'**That **Kamoshida? hmm...' Akira thought for a short while, then suddenly realized one big thing, 'Wait, Kamoshida always thinks that the school is his castle...'

_"That asshole who was all full of himself at the castle."_

Then Ryuji and Ren talked a bit more before leaving the rooftop, leaving Akira alone.

"So 'Kamoshida, the king of that castle,' They must have stumbled upon some places heavily related to Kamoshida, and they want to get into that place again..."Akira murmured to himself, stepping out from behind the air conditioner, making a mental note about the conversation between Ren and Ryuji.

"Maybe I should follow them to see what they're up to..."

[12th April, After school]

After school ended, Akira, who was sitting behind Ren, instantly got up and followed Ren. However, something caught Akira's attention first.

"Hey there, Takamaki."It was Kamoshida, who was waking up to Ann, "you're looking for a ride home? Things have been pretty dangerous lately with all those accidents."

"Sorry, I have a photoshoot today. It's for the special summer issue, so I can't afford to miss it..."Ann said, clutching her shoulder bag.

"Hey, now... Being a model's fine and dandy, but don't work your pretty little self to the bone."

"You mentioned you weren't feeling well, right? something about appendicitis?"

"Yes, I keep planning to go to the hospital, but I've been too busy... sorry to worry you."

"You must be lonely too. I feel bad for keeping your best friend at practice so often."Kamoshida said, "That's why I asked you out in the first place. Oh, and... be careful around that transfer student."

"He's got a criminal record after all. If something were to happen to you..."

"...Thank you."Ann said with an unpleasant laugh, "Please excuse me."

Ann went toward another staircase afterward, leaving Kamoshida alone in the hallway with Akira and Ren watching in the distance.

"Tch..." Kamoshida also left the hallway afterward.

Once Kamoshida had left, Akira instantly came out with a relieved sigh, "Thank god... At least that bastard left Ann alone this time... "

"You know her?"

"Wh-What?" Akira jumped a bit as Ren suddenly spoke to him, but he was able to regain composure a few seconds later, "Oh yeah... Ann was my friend since middle school. But that bastard just doesn't know when to quit..."

"You mean Kamoshida?"

"Of course! He just kept on hitting her... "Akira coughed a bit and with a frustrated sigh, then held out a hand toward Ren, "I'm Akira Ichijou, the one who sits behind you."

"Ren Amamiya." Ren politely shook his hand and said, "Um... I've got to go."

"Well, I got my business too. See you later!"

Akira waved goodbye toward Ren before walking down to the library. But as Ren started to leave, Akira instantly changed his direction and followed him, making sure that Ren didn't notice.

However, as Ren reached the front gate, Ryuji seeming came out from nowhere and greeted Ren. Akira also hastily hid among the crowd and tried his best to hear what they're saying.

_"Yo."_

_"What's up, Sakamoto-San."_

_"I wanna talk about that castle from yesterday."_

_"I tried tellin' myself it was all just a dream... but I couldn't do it."_

'That castle again... huh.' Akira thought while pretending to be looking at his phone.

_"I can't act as nothing happened. It's all connected to that bastard Kamoshida, after all."_

'That just confirmed my theory that it's about Kamoshida...'

_"bastard Kamoshida... like what Ichijou-San mentioned,_ "Ren said.

_"Ichijou? You mean Akira ichijou, right?"_

_"Yeah."_

_"He didn't get expelled by Kamoshida... lucky him."_

_"You knew him?"_

_"well... that one time that he got involved in a severe fight with Kamoshida... It's about the track team."_Ryuji quickly clapped his hand together, prevent this conversation from going any further, _"But we are getting sidetracked here."_

_"I wanna find out what's up with that place, no matter what."_

_"And y' know, you're the only person I can rely on for this stuff. So, you in?"_

_"Sure, What next?"_

_"Ooh... Look like I managed to talk some sense into you."_ Ryuji said with a grin on his face.

'Ryuji successfully talked some sense to someone... That's rare.' Akira can't help but chuckled a bit, but hastily cover his mouth before anyone heard it.

_"I think we should just try and retrace our steps from yesterday."_

_"Lemme know if you notice any other weird buildings on the way"_ And with that said, Ryuji started to walk toward somewhere else with Ren following him. Akira also swiftly followed both of them.

'I have a bad feeling about this...'

After a short while, the duo stopped in the street of Aoyama-Itchome, Akira quickly hid among the crowd again.

_"If a huge castle like that exists, I'm sure we'll find it in no time."_Ryuji said, _"...When'd they build something like that though?"_

_"Let's just go home."_

_"Don't be like that. It'll be over quick."_

With that said, Ren and Ryuji went back-and-forth for a couple of times. Even Akira was getting impatient, 'It's the third time already...'

As times went on, less and less student was still in Shujin and Akira had no choice but to stand near Ryuji and pretending to look at his phone again, internally hoping that they won't detect him.

_"What do you think?" _Ryuji said while sat beside the brushes next to the front gate.

_"Check on your phone."_

_"I'm not so sure anymore, I didn't see anything like it around here..."_ Ryuji suddenly stood up from the brushes, surprisingly still didn't aware of the presence of Akira,_ "Huh? Phone..."_

_"Hey, that reminds me-didn't you have a navigation app thingy on, back then?"_

'Navigation? App?'As their conversation went on, Akira just became more and more confused about what they're talking about.

Until a robotic feminine voice suddenly came out from Ren's phone, capturing his attention.

**_"Kamoshida... Shujin Academy... Pervert... Castle..."_**

**_"beginning navigation"_**

Suddenly, a sense of nausea hit Akira, and the space around him started to warp and warp. Until the Shujin Academy, or what was the Shujin Academy, became a humongous castle.

"Holy..." Akira noticed that he'd be spotted almost immediately, and hastily hid to somewhere else. However, he was still eavesdropping both Ren and Ryuji, "So that was the castle they were saying... but holy moly, what the hell is this?"

_"Look! It was the castle from yesterday!"_

Ryuji quickly ran up to the front door of the castle with Ren, now who's wearing a black ankle-length tailcoat, a high-necked waistcoat, black pants, brown-black winkle pickers and a pair of red gloves. Besides, he had a black and white, birdlike domino mask for some reason.

_"We made it back... That means what happened yesterday was for real too..."_

_"...Yeargh! Those clothes...!"_

_"Wha-When did I changed into this?" _As if Ren only noticed his change in his costume right at this moment, he looked decently stunned for once.

_"That happened last time too, huh?! What's with that outfit?!"_

_"You're jelly?"_

"What." Akira was incredibly dumfounded at Ren's word, even though he's not the one talking to Ren.

But to be honest, Akira was somewhat jealous of Ren's outfit too.

_"I-I ain't jealous!"Ryuji quickly defended himself, "What's goin' on here?! This makes no effin' sense at all!"_

'You're damn right, Ryuji...' Akira can't help but agree with him.

However, what's coming next was the real thingy that broke the camel's back.

_"Hey!"_It was a...monster cat that was wearing a yellow bandana and a utility belt around its hips? Or just a monster in general?

"Wha-What the eff is that?!" Akira shouted while oping his eyes wide, somehow didn't gain any attention from the trio.

_"Stop making a commotion."_

_"The shadow started acting up, so I came here wondering what it would be..."_That 'Monster Cat' continues to say._"To think you guys would come back to the entrance when you barely managed to escape."_

_"What is this place? ...Is it the school?"_

"Thank you for asking that for me, Ryuji." Akira quick thanked Ryuji from afar, "But Jesus Christ... This is too much for me to handle at once."

_"That's right."_ 'Monster Cat' said, _"This castle IS the school."_

_"...But only to the castle's ruler."_

"Ruler... It's Kamoshida!"As if something just clicked inside of Akira's head, he started to understand this place, even just for a bit, "So this is how Kamoshida sees the school, and this places just makes it extremely literal."

"But I can't just stay here and do nothing..." Akira started to look around the castle and found a small hole on a wall, "There!"

He quickly and stealthily hopped from one cover to another, avoiding any unwanted attention and get into the castle. "Wow..."

Even though it's not that obvious on the outside, but the castle was extraordinarily sumptuous. The floor was composed of black and white brick that looked like a checkerboard.

"This is huge..." Akira was walking down the hallway of 'THE CASTLE,' observing his surroundings with a marveled look, "But why there's no one here? It's creepy-"

**"Intruder!"**

"Wha-" Akira look behind him and saw a huge man with full steel armor and wielding a giant sword, just like someone straight out from a medieval movie or such, "Who are you-"

Before Skira could finish his word, A smack from the 'medieval knight' suddenly smacked him on the side of his head, knocking him out cold.

Meantime, Ren, Ryuji, and Morgana were rushing toward the source of those screaming they heard when Ryuji suddenly warned the other two.

"Hey! Guards!"

The trio hastily hid behind some wood boxes and overheard the guards.

_"Any sign of intruders?"_

_"No...but we've already captured one."_

_"already...huh..."_

_"But I think we should stay sharp."_ the guards walked off to the other direction after that, leaving the trio alone.

With a sigh of relief, Ryuji said, "Just in time..."

On the other hand, Ren can't help but wonder about 'the captured one' in guard's word, "Is there anyone other than us in here right now?"

[Back to Akira]

"Ugh... Where am I?" Akira finally gained back his conscience and was tied on an X-shape thingy with both arms and legs spreading out.

"Help! Can anyone hear m-" Akira's cry for help was interrupted when Kamoshida, or rather an extremely disgusting version of Kamoshida who was wearing nothing but a blanket and his underwear approached him.

"So... Akira Ichijou..." 'Kamoshida' said with an equally disgusting smile on his face, "If not because that you were related to the Kirijo family, you were already expelled."

"You... You Fuc-" Akira's curse was once again interrupted by the guards hitting him in his stomach, earning a cry of pain from him.

"Now that I have you under my pawn, what should I do to you?"

With that said. Ann or an extremely sexualized version of her with a Pink bikini with panther-like design and a cat ear on top of her head suddenly came out, and cling onto him.

"Ann?! Why are you-"

"Oh! I know now what I should do!" Kamoshida sickening smile widened and forcibly kissed 'Ann.'

"Get away from her, you bastard!" Unfortunately for Akira, his outburst only earn him with another strike from the guards, even harder this time.

Trapped and slumped in defeat, Akira was gradually but surely losing hope of surviving.

_'What should I do... Am I going to die?'_

_'I promised to myself that I'd protect Ann and Shiho, maybe I was wrong all along?'_

_'No... Mitsuru-San told me that I was doing the right thing...'_

_'Only I can protect them! I can't just give up!'_

_'I have to fight back! NO MATTER THE COST!'_

Then, something inside of him pulsed.

**_"It's been a long while... you know."_**

His eyes widened, mouth opened wide, but nothing came out. His hands clutched tightly into a fist, and that pain just slowly, but surely increasing.

**_"You had suffered from fighting back, but is it the wrong thing to do?"_**

"NO!" Akira shouted between his cry in pain.

"Another one?!" 'Kamoshida' said with a terrified look and steps back with 'Ann,' protected by guards.

**_"You lied to yourself, saying that you've accepted this as fate..."_**

**_"But even fate can be altered as long as the will of rebellion remains!"_**

With incredible strength, Akira breaks those metal, which was holding him in place. He slowly walked up to Kamoshida, with each step becoming harder and harder.

**_"Let us form a path, a path of accepting what you desire the most."_**

"ARGHHH!" Akira screamed and clutched his head. It felt like that his head was going to tore in half, the pain won't stop!

Then, he felt something on his face.

A mask. A plain black domino mask.

Without a word, Akira gripped the edge of the mask and tore it away. It was painful, but a blaze of power and blue flame surrounded him later. And a sense of power and a sense of freedom covered him.

"...Damn." Akira noticed that his Shujin uniform was no more. It was by a collared dress shirt with a large trench coat on, a and a plain black hat on his head, and a gloves his hand.

**_"I am thou, thou art I. Thou who seek to protect, no matter the cost!"_**

**_"I am Moriarty, the mastermind and sinner! One who finds the way to our true desire!"_**

Akira turned around and saw a huge human-like figure with long and pointy fingers on jus left hand and a normal-looking right hand, which seems to be covered by a black glove. A red 19th century-like suit worn open with the collar popped. It's incredibly slender and had a mask-like face with only his right eye shows. The blue was covering his legs, also resembling pants that would go with the cropped coat and heeled shoes. He also held a revolver in his normal-looking right hand.

"guards!" now terrified, 'Kamoshida' quickly command the guard to protect him and escape the room, leaving Akira with three guards alone.

the guards slash the sword to themselves and dissolve into some kind of black goo. The guards turned to two Succubus and three Incubus.

"Moriarty... Huh." with a smirk on his face, Akira summoned a giant black scythe with some blue highlight on its handle to his right hand. "Let's see what you can do!"

**_"MY PLEASURE_**!" With a snap of Sherlock's finger, a burst of curse energy hit one of the Incubus, instantly killing it.

"Fire!"

With Akira's command, Moriarty aimed his revolver toward one Succubus and fire, knocking her down. Akira then rushes to her, slashed herself to half, and killing it.

Then, before the others can even start to act, Akira quickly slashed his way through those shadows as that 'Monster Cat' said.

"Garu!" Finally, with another snap of Moriarty's finger, a burst of razor-sharp wind hit the final Incubus and killed it. Leaving Akira and Moriarty alone.

"haaaah..." As the rush of adrenaline ended, Akira instantly collapsed into a kneeling posture. Only to be held my Moriarty, "Th... Thanks."

**_"Thou are exhausted from your awakening. We should exit this castle as soon as possible."_**

"I know." with a deep breath and help from Moriarty, Akira got back on his knees and quickly rushes out to the hallway. Hopped from one cover to another with the help from a grappling hook that came magically appeared in his pocket.

Until he reached the main hall where he saw that the trio of Ren, Ryuji, and 'Monster Cat' was facing 'Kamoshida.' With a Pirate-like figure, who was standing on top of a mini pirate ship like a skateboard, floating behind Ryuji.

_"Ugh... This one as well?!"_ Akira, who was hiding on top of one of the chandeliers, heard 'Kamoshida' said.

_"Right on... Wassup, Persona..."_

'So this is called Persona...' Akira thought that he should get out already, but he decided to watch the trio's fight.

_"This effin' rocks!"_Ryuji said with a massive smirk on his face, _"Now that I got this power, it's time for payback..."_

Ren and the 'Monster Cat' walked up beside Ryuji, each holding a small smirk on their face and readies to fight.

_"Yo, I'm ready..." _Ryuji pumped his fist and faced the guards with a confident tone, _"Bring it!"_

**"Don't mock me, you brat!"**The only guards who were wearing a gold armor, different than others, shouted while slashed the sword to himself — revealed another Knight wearing red armor, who was riding a black horse with glowing green eyes.

_"Blast him away... Captain Kidd!"_

With that said, the fight between the trio and the knight started. Ren and 'Monster Cat,' now presumably called 'Morgana', also unleashed their Persona. Ren's Persona is Arsene, which looked very similar to Moriarty for some reason and also had curse skills in his sleeves.

Morgana's Persona was Zorro, a masked swordsman with a hat as it's face and wear a large belt with a "Z" on the front. He also has wind skill on his sleeves as well.

**_"Thou want to assist them, correct?"_**

Akira nodded, and asked Moriarty, "But I don't want them to know I'm here..."

"Maybe I can cast the same magic attack as they attack..." with that said, Akira started to cast Garu and Eiha when Ren and Morgana attack.

The whole fight went along well. With Akira's assistance, the trio obtained victories in ease, and Akira left the castle afterward. However, as the battle ended and Ren and Ryuji had constituted a deal with Morgana, they noticed something was off.

"Wow! It seems that both of you gained an attack boost for some reason."Ryuji exclaimed.

"Yeah... I've noticed that too." Morgana said, "It's like someone else is casting the same spell when we cast our own."

As if something inside Ren's head clicked, he suddenly clapped his hand together, "Maybe it's the 'Other Intruder' mentioned by those guards."

"So another Persona user... huh." Morgana said, it's pawn rubbing it's the oversized chin, "But it seems like that he was there when we fight that shadow and helped us."

"However, this is not our concern at the moment." Ren said, "Ryuji and I'll come back for sure, see ya."

"See you around!"

With that said, bother Ren and Ryuji run toward the exit and left Morgana alone, Stomping its tiny leg with frustration.

"I'M NOT A CAT!"

**_"You have returned to the real world. Welcome back."_**

As Akira returned to the real world, the same spot as before to be exact, he noticed that a weird app appeared on his phone for some reason.

"So it's the navigator to that place..." Akira looked at the icon of the navigator, which looked like an eyeball staring back. There's only two colors of this icon-red and black.

Akira pocketed his phone and started to walk toward the train station while being extremely tired and exhausted.

However, there's a smirk on his face the whole time.

"Just you wait, Kamoshida." Akira quietly mumbled while walking down the street of Yongen-Jaya, "I'm going to fight back, and I'm going to win this time!"

With that, the tale of another thief... Another group of Phantom Thief...

had begun.

* * *

So this is the first chapter of P5: Another Thief! Thank you for reading!

For those who are wondering, this is a P5 story but with a twist. 'What if there's not only one group of Phantom Thief?'

Akira's insert to this story will also have some ripple effect to some minor point of the story, especially the Kamoshida arc and Kaneshiro's arc. Also, there'll be one more OC coming up during the Madaramae arc.

The 'Other PT' would consist of four members with two OC and two vanilla characters. And there would be some P3 and P4 reference, maybe even some characters from P3 and P4 making a cameo too.

Hope you would enjoy this story so far, reviews are welcome!


	2. Chapter 2: Another Investigation

[12th April, School's courtyard]

Ann and Shiho were Sitting on one of those blue benches, talking about something. However, the topic quickly changed to Shiho's recent experience in her life.

"..." Shiho sighed and looked down to her kneecaps with a dark look, "I-I haven't been sleeping well lately..."

"Whenever I close my eyes, I keep thinking about too many things..."

Well...mostly about the abuse she got from Kamoshida. She couldn't talk with Akira about this since Akira would most likely rush to the Kamoshida and confronted him all by himself. It's not that she's defending him. It's just that she is scared of the fact that Akira would be expelled from Shujin if he is involved in anything that broke the school rule.

However, Shiho couldn't even mention a word about all of this to Ann.

"Shiho..."

Ann noticed her dark look, but even she couldn't do anything to help Shiho.

"Nationals are coming up soon, so I keep thinking..." Shiho shut her eyes and said with a sober tone. "Should someone like me really be on the starting lineup...?"

"Don't worry. Just be confident in yourself!" Ann said with a smile, tried to cheer her up, "Your skills have been recognized! It's all because you work harder than anyone else!"

"..." Shiho just looked at Ann, still having that dark and gloomy look, "Yeah... volleyball's all I have, after all..."

Ann noticed Shiho's bruises on her arms and legs, quickly changed her tone to a serious but worrying one. "More importantly, was that injury OK? It looked really swollen."

"No, it's nothing. It's normal... Especially since a meet's coming up..."Shiho shook her head and lied, "Akira had already helped me for some of those, it's fine..."

"..." Ann sighed.

Suddenly, Yuuki Mishima came out of nowhere and walked up to both of them. Mishima was an average height young boy with short blue hair. Not only that, he was fairly injured and his left arm was wrapped in bandages.

"Sorry to interrupt, Suzui," Mishima said, "Um... Mr Kamoshida told me to get you."

"Huh?" Shiho exclaimed her eyes out of surprise, "What does he want...?"

Mishima looked away from Shiho, avoiding her gaze, "He didn't say..."

"..." Shiho looked down, back toward her kneecaps or the ground, "Ann, I..."

"..." Ann looked down as well, already figured out what Kmoshida's want.

But she quickly looked toward Shiho, tried to cheer her up for the second time, "It'll be fine! I bet it's a meeting about the starting lineup or something."

"..." Shiho returned with a small smile, but not a genuine one."Yeah."

She then got up from the bench, internally winced from the wound on her legs.

"well, I better go..."

Ann patted her shoulder, tried to cheer her up for the third time with a smile, "Yup. Good luck!"

Shiho only nodded in response, then walked toward the Faculty office, then followed by Mishima.

After Shiho's out her view, Ann sigh and played with her pigtails for a bit before taking out her phone. "Hanged in there, Shiho..."

**Ann: Hey, Akira.**

**Akira: Hey, Ann.**

**Akira: Anything happened?**

**Ann: Well...**

**Ann: I'd just talked with Shiho for a bit.**

**Ann: She said that you helped her with some of those injuries.**

**Ann: I'm just wanna ask you that... is this true?**

**Akira: Um... if she's said that physically, then no.**

**Akira: But I told her that she can talk to me when Kamoshida does anything toward her or having any more injuries from him.**

**Akira: Is Kamoshida called her to meet him again?**

**Ann: Yes... And I am concerned about that.**

**Akira: Don't worry, I'll keep my eyes on her when you can't.**

**Akira: Trust me.**

**Ann: OK**

**Ann: Well, I have a photoshoot at seven, see you tomorrow.**

**Akira: Seeya.**

And with that, Ann pocketed her phone with a heavy sigh.

The day of Kamoshida ruling this school continues, but not for long.

* * *

[Evening, Yongen-Jaya]

Akira had just finished texting with Ann about the situation with Shiho and now, he just hoped that castle can help him to defeat Kamoshida for good. With a groan from his stomach, he slowly walked to the only place he knew that'd provide a good meal for him.

Cafe Leblanc.

"Hey, Sojiro-san." Akira greeted Sojiro Sakura, the owner of this cafe and sat at the side of the booth, "Can I have a pour-over and the famous curry?"

Sojiro Sakura was a man, a man with a tough surface. However, he looked even tougher than before. "Your pleasure."

"Is there something happened to you, Sojiro-san?" Akira couldn't help but asked, "You look...sad for some reason."

Sojiro originally didn't want to talk about it, but then he remembered that Akira was in Shujin too. "...huh..."

With a sigh, Sojiro started to tell Akira about what had happened, "It's about a new kid who now lives in here."

"He's wrongfully accused with assault, and somehow he was late for half a day in his first day to Shujin."

'It reminds me of a certain Transfer student...' Akira wondered from his words, 'So Amamiya-san lives in here?'

"Why should I tell you this much about him?" Sojiro asked himself in the middle of his sentences, "I think he's in the same year as you."

"Actually..." Akira sighed and pinched his nose bridge, "Amamiya-san is in the same class as me."

"And his criminal record got exposed by someone, so everyone pretty much avoided him now."

"Oh." Sojiro only said.

"Amamiya-san is a good person. I'm sure about that." Akira sighed and finished his curry and coffee, "Please don't be too harsh on him."

"I'll try my best."

Akira nodded in response and pay for his meal. As he exited Leblanc, Ren also comes in right after.

"You're home." Sojiro, who was now sitting on one of those chairs and looking at the newspaper in his hand, "I take it you actually went to school today?"

"It was pretty tough."

"Hey... You better not be getting into trouble." Sojiro noticed the sober look on Ren's face and sighed, "I heard that your criminal record got exposed... I'm sorry about that."

"Wha- How?" Ren Stuttered a bit before answering, "Who told you that, Sojiro-san?"

"It's Akira in your class. He just came by to have a meal. We've talked for a bit." Sojiro couldn't help but feel bad for him, "He also told me that you were a great person. You're friends with him?"

"No, we've only met once." Ren shook his head in response.

"Hmm..." Sojiro was deep in his thought for a bit, "Maybe it's because he knows how it feels to be punished for doing the right thing."

"I remembered that he was in a fight with a teacher in Shujin to protect someone else from being sexually assaulted." Sojiro continued, "Poor kid..."

'sexually assault...sound like Kamoshida.' Ren began to wonder about Akira, 'Maybe he can tell us something about him.'

Suddenly, some 'Pi'sound came out of Ren's pocket and snapped him out from his thought. It's text from Ryuji.

**Ryuji: Hey, I decided to go ahead and message you.**

**Ryuji: Can you see this?**

**Ren: Yep.**

**Ryuji: I'm gonna be counting on you tomorrow, OK?**

**Ren: Got it.**

**Ryuji: You're the bro, man...**

**Ren: Hey, before you go...**

**Ren: maybe we can ask Ichijou-san about Kamoshida.**

**Ren: He seems like he had a history with him.**

**Ryuji: Oh, about the fights he had with him...**

**Ryuji: Yeah, maybe after volleyball rally.**

**Ryuji: Welp, seeya tomorrow!**

**Ryuji: Let's save those guys who've been getting abused. You and me.**

With a small smile, Ren put his phone back to his pocket and was greeted by Sojiro's annoyed glance.

"...Sheesh, are you even listening to me? Just stay away from bad influences, OK?"

Ren nodded and processed to walk toward his room in the attic before Sojiro stopped him, again.

"Hey, I'm gonna head home for the night." He put the newspaper to the booth and said while getting up, "I'll lock the store up. Don't go wandering out."

Ren only modded again and headed up to his room, leaving Sojiro alone.

* * *

[Up on the attic]

Ren was about to get into bed before Ryuji texted him again, earning a slightly annoyed look from him.

**Ryuji: That thingy on your phone was some red eyeball icon, right?**

**Ren: Right.**

**Ryuji: We ended up at that weird place when we used this nav app, right?**

**Ryuji: I found it on my phone too...**

**Ryuji: I don't even remember installing it!**

**Ren: That's creepy**

**Ryuji: For real. what is this thing?**

**Ryuji: Think it's being downloaded on its own somehow?**

**Ryuji: It's dangerous to use something without knowing what it is...**

**Ryuji: But with it, we can go to that weird place, right?**

**Ren: seems like it.**

**Ryuji: Basically, it's gonna depend on how we use it.**

**Ryuji: But first we gotta fond evidence for the beating.**

**Ryuji: I'm counting on you, all right? Don't go ditching school on me.**

**Ren: Of course, Ryuji.**

And with that, Ren turned off the phone and went to bed. But the rattling sound of chain woke him up afterwards. He got from what supposed to be his bed and found himself in the velvet room, again.

"Wake up inmate! Our master wants to have a word with you." Caroline, one of the guards who was standing outside the cell said harshly.

Ren just silently sighed and walked up to the door of the prison cell, looking at Igor, a bizarre old man with a long nose, pointed ears and bulging and bloodshot eyes. He also wears a black suit with white gloves.

"Welcome to the Velvet Room." Igor said with a strange smile on his face, quite creepy to be honest," I thought about resuming our previous conversation tonight, That's why I have summoned you."

"What are your thoughts? Are you becoming accustomed to this place?"

"Yeah." Ren only nodded.

"Ah, glad to hear it. It seems you have nerves of steel."Igor's smile widened, only to make it even creepier, "Your rehabilitation determines if ruin can be stopped, Yet, such a feat cannot be done by you alone."

"But today, you entered a partnership with someone who awoke to the same power, and even met another one who has it too, haven't you?"

"A partnership?" Ren asked.

"Involving yourself with others is an important foundation for your recovery. You've done well."Igor didn't answer his question, just continued with his vague word, "That said, I am nor advising the formation of superficial relationships."

"It must not be of frivolity but a ring of those who would, by morals or faith, lend you their strength."

"In other words, they are bonds with those who have been robbed of their places to belong."

"The expansion of said ring will, in return, help you mature as well."

"Personas are the strength of heart..."As Igor finished his word. Another guard of the cell, Justine, Turned toward Ren and said. "The stronger the bonds that surround you, the more power your Personas will gain."

"There are countless people in the city who have talents that a weakling like you doesn't." Caroline then followed, "You better rack that noggin of yours and get them on your side. We'll change that into power."

Once both caroline and Justine had finished, Igor chuckled for a bit and said, "Indeed. you should be prepared to use even myself, or your ambitions will not come to fruition."

"We have a deal then."

* * *

[13th April, School]

Akira was focusing on the music from his headphone when Ms Kawakami was announcing to others.

Ms Kawakami or Sadayo Kawakami was a youthful-looking woman, possibly in her late 20s. She had dark brown unkempt hair, dark brown eyes and consistently has a relatively long and sleepy face.

She also wore a yellow long-sleeved shirt striped with white and red horizontal lines, a blue denim skirt and white kitten heel shoes.

"OK, listen up everyone." Kawakami noticed Akira who was still listening to his headphone and sigh, "Hey, Ichijou. Can you just put down your headphone and listen to me, even just for a moment?"

Akira merely put his headphone around his neck and present her a sorry look, "Sorry..."

"As you all know, today is the volleyball rally." Kawakami then returned his attention towards the whole class, "Head to the gymnasium once you've changed. got it?"

with a nod from everyone, the volleyball rally had started.

So did the investigation of Ren and Ryuji.

* * *

[Afternoon, during the rally]

Kamoshida was doing well, constantly giving spikes to the student's team, especially Mishima. Yes, most students were focused on the rally, or just Kamoshida himself.

But from the far corner of the stadium, Akira was sitting with Ann while Ren was sitting with Ryuji on the other side.

"You OK, Ann?" Akira said, his gaze had never left Kamoshida, but not a good one, "Still worrying about Shiho?"

"Yeah..." Ann said while playing with her hair, looked bored as hell, "I don't know why, but please don't leave her alone."

"I know... Kamoshida hit on you again?"

"Always..."

"Not good... let's hope that he won't have your phone number at any moment."Akira sighed heavily, mumbled quietly to himself, "That bastard... Think that he is a king of the castle of some sort..."

"..." Ann didn't answer.

Meanwhile, Ryuji was staring at Ann the whole time with Ren looked like bored as hell too.

"Still sticks out... Hasn't changed a bit."He quietly mumbled, but loud enough to be heard by Ren.

"Hm?" Ryuji noticed Ren's confusing look on him and Stretched for a bit, "Pretty boring, right?"

Ren only modded with a small smirk on his face, "yeah... Just boring in general."

Ryuji didn't answer, just used his right hand to support his hand and fell asleep, or looked like that he was sleeping. Until the chanting from the girls suddenly increased and gaining their attention.

It was Kamoshida again. He had given another hard spike toward the student team. With the incredible height of his, he was able to easily break through the defences and straight toward Mishima's face.

But then, seemingly out of nowhere, someone suddenly pushed him away from the ball and taking the ball for himself. He quickly served the ball towards the net and jumped, even higher than Kamoshida and strike.

The ball went even faster than everyone had expected and zoomed past the shocked Kamoshida, barely touching his face. For a moment, there are only the echos of the ball crashing to the ground.

Once everyone had come back from their shocking state, they found who was that mysterious person who saved Mishima from getting hit.

It was Akira.

"Ju-Just in time..." Akira looked back on Mishima and gave him a smile between heavy panting, "You're OK?"

Mishima just nodded, still too shocked to respond.

But then, the others start to whisper to each other.

_"It's that brat again..."_

_"Why would he interrupt the whole thing?"_

_"He's just showing off, trying to impress Takamaki that he's better than Kamoshida-sensei..."_

Akira didn't hear or pretended that he didn't hear those whisper and apologized to the teachers with a bow, "Sorry about that, I'm only wanted to save Mishima-san from getting hit."

"You can continue." As with that said, Akira quickly walked back to the seat next to Ann.

"Thank god..." he quietly sighed in relief and said.

"You baka." Ann glared at him and whispered, "You know that you can't just rush out and do things like that."

"Sorry... I just wanted to save Mishima from getting hit by Kamoshida..."

"Huh..." Ann could only sigh on Akira's word, "Still trying to help everyone..."

* * *

[After the volleyball rally, school courtyard]

"Get to know each other better, my ass. It's just a one-man show for him to stroke ego." Ryuji hissed furiously, stamping his feet, "At least Akira was able to get some form of revenge to him..."

"...well, anyways." Ryuji sighed silently and stepped close to Ren, "Now's our chance to go look for the guys we saw were slaves yesterday."

Suddenly, the voice of Akira ringed from somewhere near them, caught them by surprise.

"You two are going to find evidence about that bastard, correct?"

"Ichijou-San?" Ren said, looked surprised at Akira appearances. "Why are you here?"

"Just overheard your conversation." Akira sighed and leaned on one of the pillars.

"Ichijou, we're going to ask you about him as well," Ryuji said, crossing his arms, "You had a history with him before, right?"

"Yeah... About that." Akira couldn't help but cringed to his words, "I was trying to save Kimiko-chan from being sexually assaulted by Kamoshida, then it quickly escalated to a fistfight with him..."

_"You bastard! Get your hands off from Kimoko-chan!"_

"At the end, I was the one who got blamed. Kamoshida said that I was the one who was sexually assaulting Kimoko-chan..." Akira's hand clutched tight, tried to control his emotion. "If not Mitsuru-San came in and helped me. I would already be expelled from here..."

"Well... that's unfortunate." Ren said.

"I know..." Akira waved reassuringly with a small sombre smile, "Ryuji, if you want to find anything about Kamoshida... I suggest you guys go to Mishima."

"Mishima? why?"Ryuji asked with a confused look.

"Just my intuition..." Akira sighed and gave them a fist pump. "Good luck...you'll need it."

with that said, Akira left both of them alone and went to the classroom.

'Time to my investigation...'

* * *

"I-I don't know what you're talking about?!"

"It's OK, I won't tell anyone about it." Akira was, in short, frustrated from the response from the volleyball player.

"But you-you're that one who had fought with Kamoshida-Sensei! I-I just can't trust you!"

"What would I do to harm you?" Obviously, Akira knew that his reputation wasn't the greatest. But this is merely absurd, "I'm just gathering evidence of Kamoshida abusing and sexual assault to expose it to the police."

Or even better, the one and only Naoto Shirogane. Even though they only met once, but Akira knew she could be trusted, one hundred percent.

"Dude, it's no use..." the player said sombrely, "Everyone knows, even our parents. They would just defend Kamoshida..."

'That effin' prick!' Akira internally cursed and sighed. "OK... I'll leave you alone now."

With that said, Akira left the volleyball player alone and went back to the hallway. And wrote down the information to his 'Detective Notebook'.

'So only the castle left...' before Akira realised, he was already back to the courtyard and recognized Ann, who seemed like talking with someone else.

"Can I talk to you for a sec?" Ann was talking, or more precisely, interrogating Ren.

"What is it?"

"It'll be quick." Ann said, "Anyway, what's with you? Like, how you were late the other day was a lie and all."

"...There's that weird rumor about you too." she continued.

Akira only stood there and watch, internally hoping that thing wouldn't go out of control.

But then Ryuji came, earning a facepalm from him.

"Whaddya want with him?"

"right back at you. You're not even in our class." Ann retorted.

"...We just happened to get to know each other." Ryuji cringed a bit and stepped back for a bit.

Ann noted the reaction of Ryuji and decided to continue to ask, "What're you planning on doing to Mr Kamoshida?"

"Huh? I see. I getcha." Ryuji exclaimed with eyes wide-open, but quickly recomposed himself, "You're all buddy-buddy with Kamoshida after all."

"This has nothing to do with you, Sakamoto-"

"OK, THAT'S ENOUGH!" before Ann could finish her word, Akira stepped out from his hiding places and shouted, interrupted all of them.

"Akira? Why are you here?" Ann asked with wide eyes.

"Ichijou?!" Ryuji also added.

"Ann wasn't like that buddy-buddy with that prick!" Akira stepped between Ann and Ryuji, continued to snap, "Don't you see that sombre face when Kamoshida asked to go out with her? She was forced to go with him!"

"You know that feeling of being the centre of rumour, right?" Akira finished with a heavy sigh, "Why would I confronted Kamoshida for you and the track team back then..."

Ryuji only stared in awe, unable to find a word to say.

"...I'm sorry..." he finally apologized to Ann.

"Good." Akira then took out his notebook and turned to one page, "Now every adult, even the parents know about the abuse..."

"What?! For real?!"

"Yes, indeed..." Akira said, clutched his other hand tight, "You can ask Mishima for confirmation."

"...He's always the target of Kamoshida-sensei's 'Special Coaching'... True, I always see the guy covered with bruises."Ryuji thought for a bit, then signalled Ren to fallow, leaving Ann and Akira alone. "Let's go talk to him before he leaves then."

After Ryuji and Ren were gone, Akira looked back at Ann with an apologetic face, "Well... I guess I can be a baka sometimes."

"Huh..." Ann only sighed with a small smile on her face, "But anyways, thank you."

"My pleasure."

[enterence hall, a few minutes later]

"Everybody knows... The principal, Our parents... They all know, and they all keep quiet about it."

"This is gotta be a joke..." Ryuji just looked at Mishima in awe, couldn't believe what he'd just heard, "So Ichijou was right..."  
"...Don't be a pain. you don't understand what I'm going through." Mishima just retorted with slight annoyance, "Shouldn't you of all people know that nothing's going to help...?!"

"...!" Ryuji just winced a bit from his words.

Seeing that Ryuji won't ask him further, Mishima decided to rush back to the stadium, leaving only Ryuji and Ren.

"Dammit." Ryuji said, equally annoyed.

"What now?" Ren sighed and pushed his glasses, "Apparently everyone knows..."

"I'll try one more time to persuade the other guys. That's all I can do."

They nodded to each other before parting away.

* * *

On the other hand, Akira was all on his own when he entered the dark alley near the school. He quickly pulled out his phone and tapped the mysterious app with an eyeball-looking icon.

"So this is the 'navigation app' Ryuji and Amamiya-san were talking about..." Akira couldn't help but wonder, when did this app installed to his phone?

"But now I just have a find that 'Morgana' and ask him about how to take down Kamoshida..." Akira quickly entered the keywords he heard from yesterday to the app. Then that robotic feminine voice rang again.

**_"Kamoshida... Shujin Academy... Pervert... Castle..."_**

**_"beginning navigation"_**

* * *

['The Castle']

"I'm really back..." Akira, who now wearing his 'Other Uniform' as he called it, was standing in front of the castle and slowly approached the entrance.

As he approached the entrance, the 'Morgana' from before pushes the huge door to squeeze through it, "So you two are back-"

"wait, who are you?"

"I'm that guy who helped you in that fight yesterday." Akira kneeled and said with a small smile, "So... Morgana, right?"

"Yea-Yeah..." Morgana was decently surprised by Akira's knowledge of his name and stepped back for a bit, "But back to my question, who are you?"

"Who am I?" Akira knew that he couldn't give his name out to him and quickly thought a nickname for him, "you can call me Jester."

"OK... So Jester, why are you here?"

"I wanna talk to you for a bit." Akira, or now Jester, took off his tophat and said, "This place is how Kamoshida sees the school, right?"

"Yeah, he is the owner of this palace." Morgana nodded.

"Palace?"

"Palace is in short, a world in which one's distorted desires have materialized." Morgana crossed his arms and said, earning a look of confusion from Akira.

"So... It basically means that this is the literal version of his 'desire' or whatever, right?"

"Bingo."

"Ok then," Akira rubbed his chin and asked, "So can I stop Kamoshida from doing those act of 'desire' in here?"

It took a few second for Morgana to register what Akira's saying, "You mean stealing the treasure? If that so, then yes."

"Treasure...huh?" Akira thought for a short while before stood up from his kneeling position and slowly walked toward that small hole again. "How about we explore this place first? Maybe you can teach me about fighting with Persona or such."

"Are you sure about that? There are only you and me..." Even though Akira understood that Morgana was concerned for him, but he still insisted to go.

"I think we'll be fine, with Moriarty on my side."

"If you insist..." with a sigh, Morgana decided to follow him.

Both Akira and Morgana quickly and smoothly leapt through the small hole on the wall of the castle. They hopped from one cover to another, until a lone guard entered their sight.

"So, I should teach you the basic of combat." Morgana whispered, "In order to gain an advantage, you need to rip off the mask on those shadows."

"Mask... huh." Akira took out his grappling hook and aimed at the back of the guard, "Let's hope this work."

He fired the hook and directly attached to the back of the guard, pilling him toward him and flipped around to grip on his mask.

"Ciao, darling." before the guard could address what was going on, Akira ripped off his'(or her's) mask and jumped off with a backflip. Ready for battle.

The guard just twitched uncontrollably and dissolved into a pile of black goo, then turned into a Silky.

"Ho-How dare you!" The Silky shouted furiously toward Akira, "You'll be punished for intruding Kamoshima-Sama's castle!"

"Ohhh~ someone beautiful like you shouldn't be in control by bastard like Kamoshida." Akira said teasingly toward the Silky, "You know, you're a cutie after all."

"But sorry, I'm going to defeat you." Akira mockingly sighed and touched his mask, summoning Moriarty, "Moriarty, Eiha."

With that said, Moriarty instantly snapped his finger and sent a small burst of curse energy toward Silky, dealing a small amount of damage to her.

"Zorro! Garu!" Morgana quickly leapt out from his hiding spot and summoned Zorro. A burst of razor-sharp wind struck her and knocked her back.

"You thief!" Silky, who now was even more pissed cast a Bufu to Akira. A Burst of ice struck him hard, knocking him down.

"ARGH!"

But thanks to his quick wit, Akira swiftly backrolled toward Morgana. Narrowly dodged another Bufu from Silky.

"Jester, you're too cocky! " Morgana shouted while casting another Garu, covering Akira's retrieval, "You need to pay more attention to the fight, not dropping quirks every second!"

"Yeah, sorry Morgana." Akira rubbed the back of his neck and said apologetically to him, "Revolver shot!"

"YES, SIR!" Moriarty briskly aimed his revolver to Silky and without hesitation, fired to her's head. And Silky died afterwards.

"Well, still a long way to go, I guess," Akira said in between his small panting, then turned to Morgana, "Let's get going, shall we?"

"...I guess so."

Morgana only nodded in response and followed him. they covered the area between the Main Hall and 'the Training Hall of Love' and had a few battles here and there. Akira also learnt about 'Hold Up' phase and 'All-Out Attack' from Morgana in the process. In the end, both of them sneaked back out to the outside of the castle.

"Well, I think we'd covered a lot of ground." Akira, now tired from the battles and sneaking, looked at the sketch map on 'Detective Notebook' and smiled, "And you're a great teacher for sure, Morgana-Chan."

"And you're a fast learner too." Morgana crossed his arm in front of him and said proudly, "You can fight with that Ryuji and Ren too! How about-"

"Nah, I think I'm more a 'operate in the shadow' type of person." Akira's turned down his request before he could finish his word, "I'll help the three of you during infiltration, but please don't tell them about me."

"Wha-Why?"

"Just my intuition... But whatever," Even though Akira said this. But for the sake of his identity, he swiftly summoned Moriarty and cast a unique kind of spell to Morgana.

"Moriarty, Makajama. "The spell was only to wiped Morgana's memories about him in the first place.

"Sorry, Morgana."

He whispered apologetically to Morgana before tapping his phone, teleported back to the alleyway he came from.

Once back to the real world, Akira started to note down something on his notebook, "I should buy a model gun first... But Shiho's business is more importa-"

"Akira-Kun? Why are you in the alleyway?" Out of a sudden, someone's voice came from his side and made him jumped for a bit.

"huh?!" Akira took a few seconds to regain his composure, "Oh hey... Shiho."

It was Shiho. She seems to like she just finished her volleyball practice, mostly from her bruises.

"You're going home?" Akira laughed awkwardly and said, "I can go with you."

"Um... I guess." Shiho nodded and led him toward the subway station.

* * *

On the way to the station, Akira decided to ask her about her lies from yesterday, "So... Shiho, why'd you said that I helped with your injuries?"

"H-huh?!" Shiho was dumbfounded from his word, struggled to find the right response, "Ugh... It's because I don't want Ann to worry too much about me... She already got her photoshoot to worry about..."

"But by doing so, you'd just made me and Ann even more worried about you." Akira noticed the guilt wearing on Shino's face and sighed, holding her hand reassuringly, "I'm not blaming you, but you're hiding something from me, right?"

"..." Shiho tried to contain her tear and emotions but ultimately failed, "It's just that... I want to escape it all... Kamoshida... everything!"

"Shiho..."

"But the abuse continues, the harassment continues..." Shiho said between sobbing, "I don't want Ann to do things she doesn't want to keep me as a regular on the team!"

"It's OK to-"

"IT'S NOT OK!" As if something inside Shiho snapped, she shouted before Akira could finish his words. "I kept this all by myself because I don't want you to fight with Kamoshida again! I don't want you to leave... I don't want you to be expelled..."

"Shi-Shiho..." Akira's heart was like being stabbed from seeing Shiho like this. Without any consideration, he pulled Shiho close and hugged her tightly. "I-I'm sorry for... everything."

Shiho didn't respond, just sobbing out loud in his chest.

* * *

With that, this ended the second chapter of P5: Another Thief! Thank you for reading!

As for anyone wondering Moriarty's stats and skills, here it is:

**Moriarty**\- Lv. 10

Main elemental type :**_ Curse, Wind and Gun_**

RESIST: **CURSE** AND **WIND** ATTACK

WEAK: **ICE**, **ELECTRIC** AND **BLESS** ATTACK.

SKILLS:

**Eiha : (Light Curse damage to 1 foe)**

**Garula : (Medium Wind damage to 1 foe.)**

**Magaru : (Light Wind damage to all foes.)**

**(Unique skill)REVOLVER SHOT : (Light Gun damage to 1 foe)**

**Makajama : (Inflict Forget (high odds) to 1 foe.)**

The next chapter would be the turning point of Shiho and possibly awaken her spirit of rebellion, or in another word, her Persona!

Hope you would enjoy this story so far, reviews are welcome!


	3. Chapter 3: Another Persona

[13th April, Evening]

After sending Shiho to her home in Shibuya, Akira went back to his apartment in Yongen-Jaya with tiredness like never before.

Akira's apartment was like other middle-class apartments in Yongen-Jaya. It's not too big or too small, consists of two bedrooms opposite to each other, a bathroom and an open-style kitchen.

"What a day..." Akira went straight to the sofa once he was back in here, ignoring the groan from his stomach, "I should text Ann first, she deserves to know."

With that said, Akira quickly took out his phone and opened iM, messaging Ann.

**Akira: Hey Ann.**

**Akira: I want to talk about something serious.**

A few seconds later, Ann responded.

**Ann: I'm all ears.**

**Akira: Ok... So I crashed into Shiho a while ago.**

**Akira: I decided to walk her home and...  
**

**Akira: She told me everything.**

**Ann: What did she say?**

**Akira: She said that she just wanted to escape from it all, like stuff about volleyball or such.**

**Akira: And she lied about me helping her with her injuries because she doesn't us to worry about her.**

**Akira: She doesn't want you to follow Kamoshida's word just to keep her in regular on the team.**

**Ann: Shiho... **

**Akira: I don't know is this the right thing to do but... don't give to Kamoshida, please.**

**Ann: I'll try**

**Akira: I'll keep my eyes on her tomorrow, I'm afraid that she would try to... you know, 'escape from it all.'**

**Akira: But she also worried for me getting expelled too...**

**Ann: I think Shiho cares about you, maybe even more than me sometimes.**

**Ann: Just... don't let her heart be shattered, promise?**

**Akira: I promise. **

**Akira: But if Kamoshida tries to land his fingers on her... I'm not sure then.**

**Ann: I can kinda understand that... **

**Akira: Sorry to bother you in times like this, tomorrow?**

**Ann: Yeah, see you tomorrow.**

With that, Akira pocketed his phone with a sigh. But his mind still lingered on Ann's words.

"Why did I promised Ann to not shatter her heart?" Akira mumbled with a single tear from his eyes, "I'll just break that promise too, just like the others..."

"Why..."

* * *

[14th of April, during class]

Ren was listening to the class and jotting down notes when his phone suddenly buzzed. He checked his phone and it was Ryuji.

**Ryuji: So about witness...**

**Ryuji: I was wondering if we could her something outta Takamaki.**

**Ren: Since she's forced to be with Kamoshida?**

**Ryuji: No, that ain't why.**

**Ryuji: Just hear me out.**

**Ryuji: You know how we didn't get a thing outta the volleyball team?**

**Ryuji: I figured it'd be a good idea to talk to someone who knows them.**

**Ren: We can ask Ichijou about that.**

**Ryuji: I know! But he looks like he's busy with something else today.**

**Ryuji: Uggggh, we're sidetracked again.**

**Ryuji: Takamaki's BFFs with a starter. A girl named Suzui.**

**Ryuji: I tried to talk to that girl during break, but I got nothing.**

**Ryuji: That's why we should have Takamaki talk to her**

**Ryuji: Then again, I guess it'll be hard getting her to help us.**

**Ryuji: Sorry, Lemme see what else I can come up with.**

With that, Ren pocketed his phone and turned his attention toward the teacher again.

In the meantime, Akira's mind can be described as... A huge mess.

'So I have to look after Shiho after class, but don't let her notices me...' Akira pinched his nosebridge in annoyance and frustration, 'I'm going to look like a creep, for sure...'

* * *

[After School, Courtyard]

Ann, Akira and Shiho were sitting on the blue bench. Shiho's in the middle, Akira in her left and Ann in her right. The setting sun was mostly blocked by the pillars, but still shined for a bit on them.

"Shouldn't you be heading to volleyball?" Ann asked.

"Uh-huh..." Shiho, who was now even more injured than before, nodded in response.

Ann noticed the bruise above her eyes and leaned toward her, "That bruise above your eye... Is that from practice, too?"

"How did I not noticed that from yesterday..." Akira internally cursed at himself for not noticing that yesterday. And held her hand to give her comfort.

"Y-Yeah..." Shiho stammered for a bit.

"Are you sure you're not pushing yourself too hard?" Ann asked.

"I'm OK... Volleyball's the only thing can do right..."

Akira and Ann looked at each other with a worrying glance at her response, 'She's not improving at all...'

Then, out from nowhere, Ann phone suddenly rang, earning a sombre look from her.

"Shouldn't you take that?"

"It's probably just my part-time job... I think."

"I... should get going."

"Shiho... Are you sure you're OK?" Akira and Ann asked unanimously.

"Uh-huh..." with that said, Shiho got out from the bench and walked away, leaving only Ann and Akira.

"I'll look after her..." Akira patted her shoulder and quickly followed Shiho.

Once both Akira and Shiho were gone, Ann reluctantly answered the call, "Today won't work... I'm... I'm not feeling so good..."

"Sorry, bye."

[School Hallway]

Shiho was checking her phone when Ren suddenly walked up to her.

'Amamiya?' Akira who was now hiding behind a corner saw that and wondered, 'Why are you here?'

"...What?" Shiho quickly pocketed her phone once she saw Ren approaching, "Oh... I'm in the way, aren't I? Sorry..."

"Are you hurt?" Ren asked calmly.

'This is so you, Amamiya.' Akira thought while eavesdropping, 'At least someone other than us cared for her, even just for a bit.'

"Huh...?" Shiho stammered, "Um, well..."

She then finally noticed who was talking to her and asked, "Hm, you don't look familiar. Could you be that transfer from Class D?"

Ren nodded.

"Um, this might not be any of my business, but don't let don't let the rumours get to you, OK...?"

Hearing this kind word from Shiho only made Akira's wound in his heart started to hurt again, 'Got dammit...'

"Why do you said that?"

"Well, I've helped with some similar situations before..." Shiho clutched her right arms and said, "...Both of my best friends are often misunderstood too...one was because of her looks while the other one was because of his actions..."

'It's Takamaki and Ichijou...' Ren thought.

"Ah, sorry. I didn't mean to drag on like that." Shiho suddenly came to a realisation and said apologetically. "Anyway, I have to go to practice... I'll see you around."

With that said, Shiho walked away with a defeated look with Akira following closely behind. But not before giving a nod toward Ren, earning a confused face from him.

* * *

[Back to Courtyard]

Ryuji was waiting impatiently when Ren arrived, "Dammit. What the hell..."

"Did you find someone?" Ren asked while pushing his glasses.

"Is that what it looks like?" Ryuji said with a deep sigh, but not before punching the vending machine, "All of 'em kept sayin' the same shit Mishima was talkin' about...!"

"Kamoshida had to have told 'em something!" Ryuji continued, "At this rate... it looks like we'll have to go to him directly..."

"We should've started with that."

"I know..." Ryuji only sighed in defeat at Ren's response, "But seriously, isn't there something we can do?"

"No way I'm gonna give in like this!" Ryuji said, "Ren, can you think of anything?"

"We should call the cops." Ren said.

"So you wanna tell 'em about the castle? They'd never believe us." Ryuji sighed again at Ren's idea, "You got any other ideas...?"

Ren thought for a short while before pushing his glasses again, this time with a small smirk, "Let's punish the king."

"The king...? You mean that other world's Kamoshida?" Ryuji scratched his head for a bit, "I didn't think of that, but..."

"Is there any meaning to-" Before Ryuji can complete his sentence, an unknown voice rang from behind. Catching them by surprise.

"I finally found you..."

Ryuji looked around and asked Ren, "... You say something?"

"No."

"Don't think you can get away with not paying me back for helping you." seeming out of nowhere, a black cat with blue eyes and a yellow collar jumped onto the table and 'said'.

"That voice... Is that you, Morgana?!" Ryuji stepped back in awe.

Morgana didn't respond to Ryuji's word, merely shook his head and continues "How dare you, up and leaving me the other day!"

"The cat's talkin'?!" Ryuji turned to Ren and shouted, "Renren?"

"I... think so."

"Dude, why are you so calm about this!"

"Well, what can I-"

Before Ren could answer. Morgana turned around and looked at Ryuji furiously, "I am NOT a cat! This is just what happened when I came to this world!"

"It was a lot of trouble finding you two."

"Wait..." Ryuji walked towards Morgana for a few steps, his eye's still open-wide, "You came to our world?!"

"Does that mean you've got a phone?!"

"What." Ren was dumbfounded at Ryuji's question and processed to smack him in the back of his head, "You're serious, Ryuji?"

"DUDE! What's up with that!"

Seeing this dumb image of Ryuji shouting at Ren, Morgana just sighed and processed to use his pawn to scratch his face, "You don't need one when you're at my level. I did get pretty lost making my escape thought..."

Ryuji now regained his composure, leaned towards the cat and said, "That aside, why can you talk?! You're a cat!"

"How should I know?!" Morgana retorted, grazing his ear with his legs.

"Meow?" Out of nowhere, Ren suddenly unironically meowed for some reason, earning a dumbfounded look from Ryuji.

"This is no time to be jokin' around! Renren!"

"Please don't call me that."

"Wha- We are so not going to talk about that!"

"huh..." Morgana just sighed.

He subsequently started explaining how to change Kamoshida's heart by stealing the treasure from the palace in the other world. But with the risk of killing him in the process in the form of a mental shutdown.

With that said, Ren and Ryuji decided to think for a while before answering Morgana's plan and call it a day.

* * *

[After a While, School hallway]

Akira was still following Shiho everywhere, earning some whisper from those who passed by.

_"So, he's a creep for Suzui-san..."_

_"Switching his target, huh?"_

_"Creep..."_

Even though he was irritated from those whispers, but Akira decided to neglect them, 'Akira Ichijou, just forget about them, OK?'

Shiho was safe, for now. But with the look of her which seems like she's dead inside, it unsettled him.

'Please don't have any troubl-' before Akira can complete his thought, his phone whirled unexpectedly and caused him to jump for a bit, "Who is it?"

He took out his phone and checked. It's messages from Ann.

**Ann: Kamoshida just called and tell me to go to his place...**

**Ann: Don't worry, I'm now with Amamiyain Big Bang Burger.**

**'Wait, what?!' Akira couldn't believe what he just read and replied instantly.**

**Akira: That MOTHERF%#ER!**

**Akira: So what did he say other than telling you to go to his place.**

**Ann: He said that he would take Shiho off as a regular on the team...**

**Ann: Is Shiho alright?**

**Akira: I think so... but she looks dead inside.**

**Akira: Holding Shiho's dream as a hostage to force you to sleep with him... what a piece of shit.**

**Ann: Just... If anything happened, call me**

**Ann: Alright?**

**Akira: I promise.**

And with that, Akira was back to his work of keeping Shiho safe.

* * *

[On the other hand, In big bang burger]

After Ann messaged Akira, she directed her attention back Ren who was currently sitting in front of her. "...You're so weird. Usually everyone just ignores me."

"But at the same time... You kinda reminded me of Akira..." Ann got a hold on her iced water and asked, "Are you really a bad person as the rumour says...? You just don't seem like it..."

"I'm bad to the bone." Ren joked, earning a small giggle from her.

"Is that supposed to be a joke?" But then her face quickly became sombre again, "I kinda had a feeling they were all just exaggerations."

"You seemed lonely—almost like you didn't belong anywhere..." Ann continued, "We're the same in that regard. Maybe that's why it was so easy to talk to you."

"Is there really no way for me to help Shiho...?"

Ren wanted to tell her about the castle and the 'Change of Heart' stuff but ultimately decided to keep his silent posture at the last second.

"I wish he'd just change his mind..." she looked down to the ice on her cup of water. "Like, forget about me, and everything..."

"As if something like that would happen..."

"It could happen." Surprisingly, Ren disagreed her with a nod, but merely earning another small giggle from her.

"I wasn't asking for a serious response." Ann said with a sigh, but a one with relief, "But I do feel better now... I'm gonna head home."

With that said, Ann stood up from her seat, taking the water with her, "Don't tell anyone what I told you, OK?"

"I'll try and think of a way to persuade Kamoshida."

"Well... Thanks."

* * *

[School hallway.]

Akira was starting to think she'd be OK when Mishima suddenly ran up to her.

"Suzui..." Mishima said with a scared tone, making Akira raised his eyebrow, "Are you leaving...?"

Shiho turned around and asked, "What is it?"

"Mr Kamoshida's asking for you..." Mishima said while avoiding her glances, "He's in the PE faculty office."

"What did he say?"

"...I don't know." Mishima looked up, the word 'guilt' seems to be all over his face, "Well... I have to go."

With that said, Mishima swiftly turned around and ran away, leaving Shiho alone.

"Ann..."

Shiho than reluctantly walked toward the PE faculty office. And Akira who saw it all quickly took out his phone and contacted Ann while following her.

_"Akira, did something happened?! Is Shiho hurt?!"_

"Ann, Shiho is in danger," Akira said.

_"What! Akira!"_

"Kamoshida just called Shiho to the PE faculty office. I'm going to see what happen." With that said, Akira swiftly opened the recorder of his phone and put it into his pocket on his school jacket.

'Please don't be what I'm thinking...'

* * *

[PE faculty office.]

Once Shiho was inside the gloomy illuminated office, Kamoshida instantly closed and locked the door.

"So... Suzui, your friend just refused my request..." Kamoshida said with a disgusting smirk on his face, "If I can't have Takamaki, I'll let her know the consequences of turning me down."

"Mr Kamoshida, what are you sayin-" before Shiho could finish what her word, Kmoshida suddenly pushed her to the table of the office. Forcing himself to kiss her and tearing off her clothes.

"He-HELP!" Shiho's eyes widened in horror and tried to resist him, but Kamoshida just laughed.

"It's no use, Takamaki and that brat are not going to save you!"

When all hopes seem to lose for Shiho, the lock on the door suddenly clicked. Gaining Kamoshida's attention.

"Wha-"

"Thanks... Moriarty." With that said, the door suddenly slammed open by someone else.

"Who..." It took Shiho a few seconds to register who's on the door, "No way..."

It was Akira.

"Kamoshida...you bastard..." Akira said with a low-tone and started to crack his knuckles, "Lay. your. fingers. away. from. SHIHO!"

Before Kamoshida could act, Akira swiftly leapt towards them and shoved Kamoshida away, punching him in the face in the process.

"Shiho, you're OK?" Akira turned and asked her in the process.

"Aki-Akira, you'll get expelled from this!"

"I don't care!" Akira retorted back, "You're more important than my place in the school!"

"But..." before Shiho could complete her word, Kamoshida suddenly laughed from behind.

"Oh my... It seems that you're going to be expelled." Kamoshida said with confidences, getting into his nerves, "And this time not even Kirijo can save you!"

"Huh?" Akira only smirked in return, "You know, I'm recording this."

"Wha-"

Exploiting this only opportunity, Akira quickly picked Shiho up in bridal style and ran towards the door. But only to be stopped from another laughter from Kamoshida.

"Do you know Shujin merely exists because of me? Do you think you'll be capable to convince anyone with just that recording?" Kamoshida laughed, "I'm the king here, know your place!"

"You're the king...huh." Akira only shrugged before leaving the office, "If you're the king... Then I'll be the thief."

[School enterance]

Once Akira and Shiho left the school's front gate, he carefully places her back to the ground and apologizes, "Sorry... for doing that."

Shiho just silently mumbled, "It's all my fault..."

"No, it's not your fault!" Akira grasped her hand with his reassuringly, "Don't worry about me... I think I still have sometime before the expulsion comes."

"But..."

"I'll be fine." Akira smiled, tried to brighten her up, "Now let's go home, I'll walk you there."

* * *

[15th April, Classroom]

Mr Ushimaru was teaching class 2-D as usual. But even he could notice that something's wrong today.

"Anyone knows why Ichjiou is not here with us?" he asked, but no one answered.

"Huh..." Mr Ushimaru sighed with annoyance and continues his lesson. Until someone else suddenly shouted.

"Hey... What's that...?!"

"Wait... she's going to jump...!"

The whole class quickly evolved into chaos with Mr Ushimaru desperately tried to regain order. Mishima overheard those words and opened his eyes in horror

"Suzui?"

"Shiho...?!" Ann, who was already extremely worried about Shiho and Akira, instantly stood up upon hearing her name from Mishima. And ran out from the classroom with Ren following her soon after.

Meantime, Shiho was standing on the edge of the rooftop of the school, looking down to the ground.

With nothing had said, she jumped.

But then, she could feel that someone else was gripping her arms. She looked up to see who prevented her from falling.

It's Akira, again.

"Ju-JUST IN TIME!" Akira, while struggling to pull her up shouted between heavy panting, "Don't let go of me, Shiho!"

And from the ground below, everyone was shocked as Akira came out from nowhere to save her.

_"Ichijou-Senpai! Don't let her go!"_

_"Come on! We have to help him!"_

_"Why was he there?"_

"Wh-Why?" Shiho could feel tears forming in her eyes, because of guilt? Or because of something else? "I-I'm the reason of you and Ann getting into trouble..."

"It's OK! I never blamed you!" Akira could feel Shiho was slowly slipping out from his grip and decided to add his other hand to the grip, "Suicide can't fix anything!"

"But I just too tired of being the burden!" Shiho shouted back, "Please... let me go..."

Shiho tried to shake her arms to break free from Akira's grip, but Akira just clutched his grip in response.

"I WON"T LET YOU DIE! I'm not going to let you go!"

"A-Akira... You'll fall as well..." Shiho said between sob.

"I DON"T CARE! YOU MEAN EVERYTHING TO ME!" Between those words and shouting, Akira is gradually losing his strength to hold on to her, "I...I can't just see you like this and do nothing!"

Subsequently, just before Akira lost his grip on Shiho, Ann had hastily come and helped Akira by gripped Shiho's arm. "Shiho! Don't give up!"

Next Ren and Ryuji ran up, helping Akira to save Shiho from falling.

Akira saw the help from then and smiled, "Everyone! Pull her up now!"

With the strength of for people, they successfully pulled Shiho back to the rooftop. Once Shiho was back to the rooftop, Ann quickly hugged her close and sobbed.

"Shiho... Why?" Ann managed to get that out between sobbing.

Before Shiho could open her mouth, the exhausted Akira explained the question for her, "Kamoshida tried to rape her yesterday."

"What?!" the trio of Ann' Ryuji and Ren shouted unanimously.

"if not that I stepped in and punched that F#!ker in the face, she would already be another victim of that motherf*&ker." Akira sighed and said in a sombre tone, "But because of that, I'm going to be expelled."

"For real?!" Ryuji said with eyes open-wide in awe, "This can't be real!"

"Unfortunately... It's real." Akira kneeled beside the sobbing Shiho and Ann, "Ann, I think we should get her to her home first."

Ann only nodded in response and release Shiho from her embrace.

Akira decided to take her hand and aided her went to the medical room.

After a short while, Shiho allowed leaving prematurely with Akira by her side to supervise her. But once they left the school entrance, Shiho decided to ask him about something she'd wondered for a while.

"Akira... About that one time that I found you in the alleyway..." she noticed that Akira tensed up from her question almost instantly, " I saw you appear out of nowhere..."

"Is there something you're hiding from me?"

Akira tried making up an excuse to keep her away from that 'palace' business. But in the end, especially after what happened, he decided she deserves to know.

"...Where should I start first..." With a sigh, Akira hastily entered the dark alleyway from before, dragging Shiho along, "So... If I told you that I can change Kamoshida's heart, would you believe that?"

"Change Kamoshida's heart?" Shiho just stared at Akira in some form of horror, "We're going to blackmail him?"

"No, not like that." Akira pulled out his phone and opened the 'Navigator', "But I think you should see this for yourself."

_**"beginning navigation"**_

* * *

[Kamoshida's Palace]

Once Shiho senses were back to normal, she just couldn't what she just witnessed.

"Is... What is this castle?!"

"This is how Kamoshida's sees the school." Akira, now in his 'Phantom Thief Outfit' explained, "If I'm capable to steal the treasure, Kamoshida's heart would be changed."

"Huh? wha-"Shiho noticed that change in Akira's costume and interrupted herself, "Akira... Why were you dressing like this..."

"Actually... I don't know either." Akira sighed, "Now you know I have my way to fight back. I think you should go back to the real wor-"

"No! I'm coming with you!" Before Akira can complete his words, Shiho retorted with determination filled inside of her eyes, "I can't just stand there and do nothing..."

"But Shiho, this is no joke! We can be killed if we're not careful enough!"

"I have to redeem myself... from me!" Shiho just shouted back in an even more substantial volume, "How can I just stand here and do nothing when you're risking your life to fight!"

"It's because of the fact that... you mean a lot for me..." Akira clasped Shiho's shoulder with his both hands, "I can't put you in danger, in the real world or not."

"I-I don't want to be a burden for both of you!" Shiho clutched her hand into a fist, "Please... let me join you."

Ultimately, Akira still has a soft spot for Shiho in his heart and compromised, "...Fine, you can come with me... But stay close, OK?"

With a nod from Shiho, the duo sneaked into the castle.

The infiltration went smoothly with Shiho's agility. After all, she was a volleyball player herself. They were capable to secure the ground of the second floor of East building, a massive leap from yesterday.

After a few sneaking and fighting shadows, the duo (more likely by Shiho herself) decided to retreat and went back to the real world. But subsequently, as they passed through the entrance hall, the presence of Kamoshida's shadow and a bunch of guards greeted them.

"My Oh My, It's the Brat again." Kamoshida's shadow laughed upon confronting them, "You do have some guts you know, coming back to get yourself killed."

"Stay behind me Shiho."Akira pushed Shiho to his back and summoned Moriarty with his scythe, "Moriarty! Garula!"

The Persona obeyed his command and sent out a barrage of Wind attack toward those guards, but unable to do enough damage to knock them down, "Dammit, they resist to wind attack..."

"Do you think I'll let you go easily this time? Guards!"

Before Akira and Shiho can act accordingly, the guards knocked them down and held Akira up in the spot, and got Shiho to be in front of Kamoshida's shadow.

"Ready for round 2?" the shadow looked at Shiho's terrified face and proceed to laugh.

"Let her go you f$#ker!" Akira tried to break out of the guard's binding, but only earned multiple beating from them, "Don't give in! Shiho!"

"...I'm a burden..."

"No you're not! You're my friend! You'd never be a burden to me!" Akira shouted desperately, tried to get some senses to her, "Listen to your true self!"

"...Listen...to my true self?"

As if something inside of her clicked, a voice spoke to her.

**_"You've finally come to your senses, my dear."_**

Shiho felt like her head's going to split into half and struggled in guards bind, she tried to scream, but nothing came out.

"Wha- What is happening?! Not again?!" Kamoshida's shadow recognized the sign of Shiho and stepped back in fear, "Guards!"

**_"You've strayed away from your true-self for far too long..."_**

**_"Now you're going to show who is really in charge!"_**

"N-no way... She's got a Persona too?" Akira couldn't do anything other than staring at her with awe, "Damn..."

**_"Together, we can alter everything! Even fate!"_**

"Yes... Jeanne!" A mask formed on Shiho's face, A white bird-like mask.

**_"Let us form a Path, a path of accepting your true self!"_**

Shiho gripped the edge of her mask with both hands and ripped it off in one go. She can feel a sense of newfound power overwhelmed her. A sense of power liked never before.

Her Shujin outfit was consumed in the blue flame and changed into a pure white leotard with a small blue flower pinned on her chest, a pair of high heels with white stocking which reaches her thigh, a white ankle-length tailcoat and a light blue gloves. She looked at the sabre in her hand and smirked.

And her Persona was a woman entirely made by crystal, with a mask which was the same as Shiho's won act as her face. She wore a set of silver armour which made her looked like a member in the royal family in fifteen century.

_**"I am thou, thou art I. Thou who seek real justice, with great determination!"**_

_**"I am Jeanne, the saint and warrior! One who fights for our true desire!"**_

Akira quickly break away from the guards and rushed to her side, "You can fight, right?"

Shiho took a deep breath and nodded, this time with confidence. "I've been running away for too long..."

"It's time to let Kamoshida have a taste of his own medicine!"

* * *

So this is the third chapter of P5: Another Thief! Thank you for reading!

Shiho's Persona: Jeanne

**Jeanne**\- lv. 12

Main elemental type:_** Bless, Electric and Physical**_

RESIST: **Bless** AND **Electric** ATTACK

WEAK: Curse AND Wind ATTACK

SKILLS:

**Giant Slice: Medium Physical damage to 1 foe.**

**Zio: Light Electric Damage to one foe**

**Kouga: Medium Bless damage to 1 foe.**

**Makouha: Light Bless damage to all foe.**

**Dia: Slightly restore 1 ally's HP.**

**(Unique Skill)Requiem of Rebellion:**** Moderately restore party's HP and Cure all Mental Status.**

The next chapter would be the start(At least the official one) of the Phantom Thief. However, a certain duo was assisting them in the shadow!

Hope you would enjoy this story so far, reviews are welcome!


	4. Chapter 4: Another Mystery

"It's time to let Kamoshida have a taste of his own medicine!" Shiho shouted while pointing at Kamoshida's shadow, "Jeanne! Zio!"

**_"YES, MY DEAR!"_** Jeanne put her sword towards to sky and released a shot of lighting to Kamoshida's direction. However, two guards swiftly came in and blocked the lightning strike, revealing two Eligor.

"Dammit!" Kamoshida pointed to the two Eligor and shouted. "Protect me while I Leave!"

"Yes, King Kamoshida." the Eligors said in unison.

"Coward." Akira hissed under his breath, "Moriarty! Eiha!"

Moriarty appeared behind Akira and shot a burst of Curse energy to one of the guards, but only had done little to no damage.

"Resist to Curse... I'll remember that." Akira internally cursed and command Moriarty again, "Garula!"

A few razor-sharp winds hit Eligor and done a fair amount of damage, but still not enough to knock down any one of them, "Dammit! Prepare to dodge, Shiho!"

"I know!" Shiho retorted while leaping and rolling, trying to dodge the Cleave attack from the Red Knight and found an opening, "Jeanne! Kouga!"

Jeanne swiftly sent out a strike of light and managed to kill the weakened one that was damaged by Akira. But then, the other Eligor released a surprised Cleave attack. Knocking her down as a critical hit.

"Shiho!" Akira quicked dashed to Shiho's side and blocked another Cleave attack by his scythe, gritting his teeth as the knight starts to overpower him, "Moriarty! Makajama!"

He hoped that the spell would work and inflict forget to his opponent, but it missed. "Wha-"

Before Akira could finish his words, Eligor overpowered him and knocked him back. "ARGH!"

"Akira... I have to do something..." Shiho finally got up from her state of being knocked down, and summoned Jeanne again, "I need to heal us, fast..."

"Jeanne! **Requiem of Rebellion**!"

A ray of white light shined on both thieves as Jeanne voice suddenly rang through the whole entrance hall. Both Akira and Shiho could feel that a sense of energy filled their whole body, healing their injuries from earlier.

"W-wow... You're the best, Shiho!" With a smirk, Akira gripped his scythe and summoned his persona, "Moriarty, Garula on me!"

_**"Yes! Sir!"**_ Moriarty obeyed Akira's command and cast a Garula on him, using the wind to propel himself to the air.

"Ciao." Akira quietly murmured and swiftly drew multiple arcs towards the red knight, slicing him apart and killed him.

Once landed back to the ground smoothly with a roll. Akira saw Shiho collapsed to the ground out of exhaustion and hastily dashed back next to her, "Shiho, you're alright?"

"Yeah... just too tired." Shiho said with a small smile, a genuine one.

"It's OK, I'll get us out here ASAP." Akira quickly picked her up and fired his grappling hook towards the room they came from and escaped the palace immediately.

* * *

[The real world, alleyway]

Once both of them were back to the real world, Shiho noticed a few missed calls from Ann and her parents. "Hey, Akira... What time is it?"

"Huh?" Akira checked his phone and visibly paled from the answer, "It's... half-past four already?!"

"What?!" Shiho tried to get up but failed, "Ugh... I'm too tired to stand straight..."

"Don't worry, I'll get you home." Akira seeing this as an opportunity and decided to let her stayed on his back, "Ready?"

"I-I think so..." Shiho blushed hard from the fact that she's now under the spotlight as they passed the crowded street of Aoyama-Itchome and Shibuya. But in the end, she decided to enjoy this moment of peace, feeling that there's only her and Akira.

But what seems to be just a few minutes, Shiho was already in front of her own home. Akira gently let her back on the ground and let her go, "Shiho, I think you should get a few days off school."

"Um... Maybe." Shiho gave him another small smile and said, "If anything happens, tell me, OK?"

"Just like what Ann told me..." Akira can't help but smile at the striking similarities between Ann and Shiho's word to him, "I promise."

Shiho nodded in his response and gave him a thumb up before entering the house, leaving him alone.

Once Shiho was officially safe in her home, Akira sighed in relief and tried to call Ann. But for some reason, Ann didn't or couldn't respond.

"Huh? ...Why can't I call her?"

* * *

[Back to Kamoshida's palace, Safe room]

Ren, Ryuji and Morgana were infiltrating the castle when they overheard the guards talking.

_"So... about those two thieves earlier..."_

_"They somehow were able to defeat a few of our best men!"_

_"I heard that girl in white were also awakened to that power as well..."_

_"This is unacceptable..."_

'So there are other people like us in here before...' Ren was deep in his thought when Morgana suddenly patted his shoulder, snapping him out.

"Hey, Joker," Morgana said to Ren, or Joker as his codename, "you seem to be deep in thought for a moment."

"Oh, I'm fine." Ren tried to dismiss Morgana's word when the guards start talking again, catching their attention.

_"Still, why was the princess in such an odd place...?"_

"Princess...?" Ryuji, or Skull as his codename murmured. and raised an eyebrow in confusion.

Morgana, or Mona in this case quickly walked to beside the door and eavesdropped them. "Something's not right..."

_"I could have sworn we were pursuing the reading of an intruder..."_

_"It doesn't matter now, We must take her back to King Kamoshida!"_

"Who's this princess they're talking about...?" Skull asked Joker with a raised eyebrow. "Do you have any idea what they're talkin' about?"

Before Joker can answer Skull's question, Mona suddenly opened the door of the room and walked out, "I should probably look into this!"

"Yet another question left unanswered..." Skull only sighed at Mona's action and turned towards Joker, "Stuff like the castle and that navigation app are mysterious... but Morgana's got 'em both beat."

"Remember, code names."

There are a few seconds of silence between them before Ryuji realised his mistake, "Crap, sorry!"

"What was I again? ...Oh yeah, Skull!"

"Huh..." Joker only sighed, "typical Skull..."

The duo stood in awkward silence for a moment, before Mona suddenly came back. "Guys, this is bad!" He exclaimed, "It's lady Ann! She's been taken by the shadows...!"

"Great..." Joker commented, wincing, "She must have the app on her phone when we get her out from here."

Skull rubbed his head in frustration, "Dammit! We let her out for her own safety, and she just came back in by herself...!" he gritted. "Dammit, we got no time to be takin' a break! We gotta save her ass!"

With a nod from Joker, the trio exited the safe room and ran down the hallway. They noticed the barred corridor in where they came from was now opened, the carpet had scuffled as if someone had dragged their feet on.

_"Is this some kind of filming?! Who's in charge here?!"_

"No time to waste now!" Joker urged, running down the hallway toward the door where the carpet was leading to.

_"Look, I'll apologize for touching the armour without permission!"_

Skull groaned at Ann's word, "She totally doesn't get what's goin' on..."

"Let's hurry and save her!" Mona exclaimed, rushing after Joker.

The trio pushed open the door and the sight that greeted them wasn't what they were expecting.

Ann was locked to an 'X' shaped cross, two guards standing in front of her. The room was filled with candles and flower petals, a portrait of a shirtless Kamoshida hung in the centre of the wall.

"What's all this about?!" Ann yelled, trying to break free from the cross, "Seriously, I'm gonna call the cops!"

"So... this is the intruder." Kamoshida's shadow walked up to Ann and observed her with glowing yellow eyes. "First that thief and that girl, now you..."

"Kamoshida?!" Ann yelped in surprised, staring the teacher in disbelief. Then a perfect copy of her walked up to him, clinging on him.

"Who is that...?" She whispered, still staring to those two, "More importantly, what is this place?! Why's the school turned into something like this?!"

Smirking amusedly, the king turned to his soldiers. "I can't believe you mistook my Ann for someone like her."

He chuckled before looking back to the real Ann, still having that smirk on his face. "Are you afraid?"

"What is that outfit...? Have you lost your mind?" Ann asked, fear starting to sink in.

"I do as I please here. After all, this is my castle... the world of my desires." The king said with a perverted grin on his face.

Ann only stared at him in disbelief and screeched, "What the-?! Is this some kind of red light district?!"

Kamoshida only frowned. "What a lively slave."

"This isn't funny!" She retorted back by yelling, "enough of this bullshit, Kamoshida!"

The king only narrowed his eyes and turned to the copy of Ann, "The girl decided to tell me off. What do you think?"

"talking back is, like...totally unforgivable..." The copy replied slowly with a seductive smile on her face.

Kamoshida chuckled from her response before turning back to the real Ann. "In that case...she should be executed."

"Now then, how should I play with you? Shall I tear you into little pieces?"

Ann's face visibly paled as reality set in. "Are you kidding me...?"

"Holy shit..." Joker said with wide eyes as he witnessed the scene in front of them.

"This is f$#ked up." Skull spat out, his yellow gloved hands clenched tightly, "Is that what he thinks of the girls on the volleyball team?!"

In front of the trio was many topless girls, moaning and sprawled out seductively on the carpet. Every singled one of them wore the uniform shorts of the volleyball team, signifying them as the female members of the volleyball team.

Joker closed his eyes an clutched his gloved hand hard from this disgusting sight. "Kamoshida...you f#$king bastard."

"Hey, that's...!" Mona yelped, staring off to another direction.

The trio looked at the same direction and saw Ann strapped down on a cross and surrounded by those soldiers, with Kamoshida and Ann's copy standing on aside.

they rushed forward, stopping just a few meters away with their weapons ready.

"Takamaki!" Skull shouted.

"Just when I was about to start enjoying myself..." Kamoshida frowned from the arrival of the Phantom Thief.

Struggling against her bond, Ann looked at the trio with disbelief and fear. "What's the deal with this guy?!"

Skull growled, glaring directly to Kamoshida, "You little...!"

"...How many times are you gonna come back?" the king sneered, "I already have that brat and the other girl to worry about."

"As many as necessary." Joker hissed coldly.

Shrugging, Kamoshida turned back to Ann, "I bet you just like those thieves. You came because you're pissed at me, huh?" He asked mockingly, "But... I forget that chick's name, but it's your fault she tried to jump and that brat's upcoming expulsion, you know."

"Huh?" Ann just looked at him with disbelief.

He chuckled at her look, "You were so reluctant to throw yourself onto me that I had her to take your place, but that brat decided to be a hero and punched me in the face. So I decided to kick him out as well as you two."

Couldn't contain her anger anymore, Ann struggled harder. "You F$#king bastard!" She roared but gasped as a guard moved closer.

"NO!" Skull took a step to intercept the guard but was stopped when Kamoshida raised his hand.

"Take one more step and I'll kill her on the spot." He threatened.

Skull flinched and stopped. "Dammit..." He gritted in frustration.

"You effin' bastard..."

Kamoshida chuckled at his word and turned back to Ann, "Just sit back and enjoy the dismantlement show."

Ann gasped and struggled to break free, "NO! Don't!"

"Maybe I'll start with her clothes." Kamoshida giggled, staring at her with perverted eyes.

Ann's copy simpered, shaking her breast at his arm. "You're such a prev!"

Skull gritted his teeth. "Dammit, what are we gonna do?!"

Joker internally cursed, what could they do? Just stand there and watch her being violated? But at the same time, they also couldn't take another step or Ann'd die...

"Is this...my punishment for what happened to Shiho and Akira?" Ann whispered, looking down in defeat as the soldiers moved closer.

Kamoshida chuckled from the sight with amusement. "That's more like it. You should've like this from the start." he said darkly, "No more of your rebellious bullshit."

Ann's light blue eyes teared up as her own demise approaching, staring to nothing, "Shiho... Akira... I'm so sorry..." She whispered, clenching her eyes.

"Don't give up!" Joker suddenly shouted, a serious look on his face, "You said that to Shiho when she tried to jump! Are you just going to give in?!"

"Huh?" lifting her head, Ann looked at him in surprise.

"Takamaki! He's the one who tries to ruin Ichijou and Suzui's life!" Skull added, clenching his hand to a fist, "Are you going to let this f$#ker get away with it?!"

Ann bit her lips, slowly but surely came to her senses, "You're right."

"Letting this piece of shit toy with me..."Her face was replaced with a determined expression and struggled in her binding, "What was I thinking...?!"

Kamoshida was furious at her resistance, "It's like I always say. Slaves should just behave and-"

"Shut up!" Ann interrupted loudly with the immense anger, "I've had enough of this... You pissed me off, you son of a bitch!"

Then, a voice suddenly spoke inside of her.

**_"My...it's taken far too long."_**

Pain suddenly wracked through her body, causing her to convulse in her chains.

**_"Tell me... who is going to avenge them if you don't?"_**

**_"Forgiving him was never the option... Such is the scream of the other you that dwells within..."_**

Ann clenched her eyes, letting out little gasps of pain as the voice continues to speak. She tensed and thrust her body in the air before slumping down.

**_"I am thou, thou art I... We can finally forge a contract..."_**

Head down and exhausted, she whispered. "I hear you... Carmen."

She lifted her head back up and a red feline mask appeared on her face, covering the entire upper half of her head. "You're right. No more holding back!"

Kamoshida gasped at the mask, taking a step back. "You too?! Guards!"

The soldier near Ann instantly obeyed and swung his sword towards Ann, directly to her head.

"NO!" Skull roared to Ann in desperation.

But just before the sword touched Ann, a thin wire shot out from the shadow and attached to the hand of the soldier. Holding him from swing anything further.

"DO IT!" A male voice rang in the shadow, fueling her heart with even more fire.

**_"There you go... Nothing can be solved by restraining yourself."_**

With the new sense of power filling her, Ann broke through her bind. Taking her right hand, she clenched her mask.

**_"Understand? Then I'll gladly lend you my strength_**."

With a scream, she ripped off her mask with a splatter of blood on her face, a wave of harsh wind whipped outward. And Ann was covered in blue flame.

With the flame depleted, Ann now wore a tight red leather catsuit with zippers all around. It left open a large window on her cleavage, showing her skin and the top of her breasts. A panther-like tail was attached to her back. Her hand were now covered by a pair of pink leather gloves and another pair of darker red boots encircled her upper thighs.

'Yes! She did it!' In the shadow, Akira was internally screaming in joy. "Ann! Take it!"

He pulled the sword away with his grappling hook from the guard's hand and fling it up to the air. Ann instantly jumped up and grabbed it by the handle. With a loud cry, she swung down at her copy.

The copy screamed as Ann slashed her right in the middle, dissipating into nothing.

Kamoshida stared at the now transformed Ann with fear and frantically took a few steps back.

"You know what?" Ann said as the sword in her hand turned into a red whip, glaring directing at the king himself. "I'm not some cheap girl you can toy with, you scumbag!"

The trio quickly rushed to her side, backing her up, "You shattered Shiho's heart and stole Akira's future... Now it's the time to let you have a taste of your own medicine!" She yelled, pointing a finger at the king.

"I will rob you of everything!"

"How dare you!" A lieutenant shouted and absorbed other soldiers, convulsed into black goo, revealing a horrid looking demon with large horns and a beard, sitting on a toilet.

"No! I've had enough of you!" She retorted, clenching the handle of the whip, "NO one's gonna stop me now!"

Ann crouched into a feline battle position, "Let's go, Carmen!"

"How dare you deny King Kamoshida's love, you're selfish lass?!" the demon-Belphegor exclaimed back, "Pay for this insolence with your life!"

"That dirtbag just sees women as sexual outlets! Don't make me laugh with that "love" bullshit!" Holding a hand to her face, Ann commanded Carmen. "Carmen! Agi!"

Carmen sent a wave of fireball toward Belphegor, knocking it down in an instant.

Joker seeing this as an opportunity and looked at the other Phantom Thief, "Ready, everyone?"

"Of course!" the other three persona user shouted in unison, each has a smirk on their face.

"Then... Let's do this! All-Out Attack!"

the four thieves jumped in unison and strike Belphegor at the same time. A cloud of smoke raised up as the barrage continues, the demon was knocked into the air, defenceless.

But before the thieves can land a final hit on the demon, a figure clouded in shadow suddenly appeared out in the air. The figure smoothly slashed it at an insane pace with his scythe, killing it and dissolved into nothing.

Before the four thieves could register what had happened, the shadow figure already disappeared back into the shadow and left. No traces were left around.

"Wha- What happened?" Skull gasped from the scene in front of him, mouth open-wide in disbelief, "Who was that?!"

"I-I don't know." Mona swallowed back in uncertainty, "But he helped us, at least."

"Oh shit...!" Kamoshida cursed as he realised that all of his guards were killed. He dashed out from the room, running away from the thieves.

"Wait!" Ann tried to move and go after him, but only collapsed to her knees in exhaustion. "Dammit..."

The other thieves walked up to her and helped her up, "Why'd you come here, man?!" Skull shouted, "And more importantly, how?!"

Mona glared up at him, but was interrupted as Joker smacked the back of his head. "Do you think this is the right way to speak to Ann?"

"Hey! Is this that how you speak to a woman?!" Mona saw Skull's apologetic and guilt-filled look and just turned back to Ann. "Are you alright, Lady Ann?" He asked softly, a big contrast from earlier.

Ann looked up to the cat and stared at him for a good thirty seconds before she spoke again. "Lady Ann...? Wait, what is this thing? Is it alive? How can it talk?"

Mona's face visibly fell into an abyss as he was treated as a 'Thing' more than a man he sees himself as. "..."

"And... where in the world are we?!" Ann just kept on with her barrage of questions, as if she finally realised what had happened. "Can anyone explain what is going on?!"

'Huh... This is going to be a tough one...' Ren sighed and crouched down, trying to calm her down, "Just calm down, we'll explain everythin-"

"How am I supposed to calm down!" Ann used Mona's giant head to get herself up, making his head wobble like a roly-poly. She then finally noticed her new outfit, especially the chest area. "HUH?!"

"Why am I dressed like this?!" The red-suited woman instantly covered her chest with both of her hands, blushing hard from embarrassment, "When did I- Don't look at me!"

"It's been like this for a whole five minutes, we've seen enough already..." Joker just looked to the side with a slight blush, his cocky tone in the palace had gone in an instant and replaced by Ren's usual one. "I-it's too late... I think..."

Ann's face only blushes even harder at Ren's words.

"Why didn't you tell me back then?!"

"'the right way to speak to Ann'... huh." Ryuji no longer able to hold his laughter anymore and laughed out loud, pointing at Ren. "Man, you're a comedy gold mine!"

"I hate you." Ren only quietly hissed.

* * *

[Excatly 10 minutes later, Aoyama-Itchome station]

"So Ann is now a Persona user too..." Akira was jotting information about the four Phantom thieves on his 'Detective Notebook' when something came to his mind, snapping him out from his thought. "Right! About me and Shiho's gun!"

He instantly took the other line and went straight to Shibuya, messaging Shiho in the process.

**Akira: Hey Shiho!**

**Akira: I want to ask you about something serious.**

**Shiho: Something serious?**

**Akira: It's about our business in the other world.**

**Akira: What kind of gun do you prefer?**

**Shiho: WHAT?!**

**Shiho: I never thought about that...**

**Shiho: I don't even know what kind of gun is there!**

**Akira: It's OK, I'll list it out for you.**

**Akira: We have handgun, shotgun, assault rifle, sniper rifle(bolt-action and semi-automatic), revolver, light machine gun and the big boy-grenade launcher.**

**Shiho: Wow...**

**Shiho: You're really a nerd for guns...**

**Shiho: I'll let you pick for me.**

**Shiho: Cause I trust you.**

**Akira: Welp, I'll decide for you then!**

**Akira: Let' meet up tomorrow, we need to steal Kamoshida's heart ASAP.**

**Shiho: OK.**

**Akira: Oh, and there' one more thing, but I'll save it for tomorrow.**

**Akira: ;)**

**Shiho: surprises for me? How thoughtful of you.**

**Akira: Are you being sarcastic...?**

And with that, Akira put his phone back into his pocket and continued his way to a specific shop he's all too familiar with- Untouchable. "Let's hope that Iwai-san can give me a great deal this time..."

But unaware to him, the Phantom Thieves are trying to explain everything in the simplest way possible to Ann on the other side of the Aoyama-Itchome station.

"So now you have a Persona like us too. Meaning that you can take down the palace as well." Ren finally finished his explanation and licked his lips after talking too much. "Any questions, Ann?"

"Uh... So now I can go to Kamoshida's heart by a creepy app which magically installed on my phone, control fire and have a... costume while doing all of this?" Ann summarised hesitantly, getting a nod from the other Phantom Thieves.

"In a nutshell, Yes," Ren smiled, still remembering that costume of her, "Pretty cool, right?"

"I guess so..." The blonde awkwardly laughed, still confused by the whole deal with 'Metaverse' stuff. "But it's too complicated for me..."

"Yeah... I can understand that." Ren looked at the passing train and murmured.

Then Ryuji finally came back after a long journey to buy drinks for them and hended out toward them. "Which one do you want?"

Ann looked at two drinks for a few seconds before answering, "Whichever's not carbonated."

He looked at those two drinks for a while before mentally facepalmed himself. "uh... they're both actually."

"Then..." She frowned, but chose the one in his right hand, "I'll go with that."

Ryuji nodded and handed the other one to Ren, "Here ya go, Renren."

"I told you, please don't call me that." Ren took the drink Ryuji handed and sighed in helplessness.

"What about me?" Morgana, now in his cat form poked out from Ren's shoulder bag and asked eagerly. But only earning a 'Huh' from Ryuji.

"But you're a cat."

Ann giggled from Ryuji's word and saved him from the wrath of Morgana unintentionally.

"...have you calmed down, Lady Ann." Hearing Ann's giggles, Morgana turned his attention to her.

"Um... Morgana, right?" Upon hearing Morgana's word, Ann looked at the feline with a doubtful look.

"I really am talking to a cat... This feels so strange..." She whispered to herself, still couldn't believe the fact that a talking cat exists.

"I live with him." Ren plainly commented. Earning another giggle from her.

"Yeah... This definitely feels even stranger." Ann remembered that Morgana's extremely sensitive about the "I am not a cat" thing and quickly apologized to him, "Oh sorry! you're not a cat, right?"

"It's only natural that you're confused." Different from the usual bitter or furious tone, Morgana was surprisingly fine with that. "Demanding that you understand all of this after what you went through is asking too much."

Ann nodded and was deep in thought for a few seconds, "So now we can make Kamoshida have a change of heart, right?" She asked, still a bit hesitant about this whole idea, "Is this really possible...? Can we actually force him to confess his crimes?"

"The volleyball team's keepin' quiet about this, while teacher and parents turn a blind eye." Ryuji straightened himself, explained to Ann in a surprisingly serious tone. "if guys like us try and complain, they're just gonna shoot us down."

"Yeah... I remember that Akira once told me about his complain being shut down."

With a nod, Ryuji continues, "Goin' all in on this plan is the only choice we got."

After a few seconds of hesitation, Ann nodded to himself and looked up to them with a determined look, "Then let me help too. I want to make him pay for what happened to Shiho and Akira."

"He just keeps going like nothing happened, even after what happened... I'll never forgive him."

After Ann finished her word, Ryuji just looked at her eye-open wide, as if he finally realised what he just heard. "Wait, did you just say, 'let me help'?"

"You mean, you want us to take you along?"

"Don't act like I'm going to drag you down. Weren't you watching? I can fight too." Ann just frowned and retorted back to Ryuji's word.

Ryuji just rubbed his head in embarrassment and turned his attention to Ren, "Hey, what should we do?"

"It should be fine." Ren nodded and gave Ann a thumbs up, "Welcome on board."

"Even you're on board with this...?" Ryuji just turns to him with a look of disbelief.

"I agree as well. We are lacking in manpower, after all." Morgana also agreed.

"Don't worry, I'll protect her" He stated firmly.

"Even if you say no, I'm just gonna go alone." Ann added while crossing her arms, "I am not going to give up."

Seeing that he was on the weaker side, Ryuji relented. "Alright, fine."

"Then it's decided. Well, I hope we get along." Ann smiled, but then stated determinedly. "I'm going to make Kamoshida stone for what he did. Not just for their sake... but for everything. I won't let any more people suffer because of him. I'll do whatever it takes!"

Ren just smiled in response, then decided to change their subject, "With that said, we should talk about the mysterious figure who helped us."

"Oh, about that figure." Ryuji was deep in his thought for a bit, "What should we call him?"

"Shadow man?" Ren suggested, but was turned down by Ryuji instantly.

"Nah, too lame."

"Joker?" Ann suggested, but got turned down as well.

"It's my codename, Ann."

The trio then fell into a loophole, unable to come up with a proper name to call him. Until Morgana suddenly spoke up.

"How about Jester?" Morgana suggested, earning some nod from the trio. "I don't know why, but he seems familiar to me."

"Also, even though we had never met him. But he seems to have infiltrated this palace for a few time now." Ren added, recounting those conversations he overheard from those guards. "Ryuji, I remembered that in the day of you awaking your Persona, the guards had talked about 'the captured one'."

"'Captured one'?" Ryuji tilted his head, looked confused from what he had said.

"Yes." Ren nodded, "And remember that battle? My curse skill and Morgana's skill got a damage boost while you haven't, which is weird in itself."

"It seems like he's only able to have Curse and Wind attack..." Morgana commented. For some reason, some words rang inside his head.

_"So... It basically means that this is the literal version of his 'desire' or whatever, right?"_

_"So can I stop Kamoshida from doing those act of 'desire' in here?"_

"Yeah, me too." Ren pushed his glasses, still trying to recall his memories, "But then in today, the guards and Kamoshida not only mentioned Jester, but another girl as well."

"Another girl?" Ann recalled some word from Kamoshida as Ren mentioned about them, "Yeah! I remembered that he said something about 'that thief and that girl'!"

_"First that thief and that girl, now you..."_

"Not only that, I remembered that the sword was stopped in midway at striking Lady Ann! As if someone saved her from being killed." Morgana recalled the strange event happened during Ann's awaking, "And There's a voice said 'Do it' and 'Take this Ann' to Lady Ann when the sword was tossed to the sky..."

_"DO IT!"_

_"Ann! Take it!"_

"So... what does it all mean?" Ryuji rubbed his head in confusion, trying to figure it all out.

"That means..." Ren pushed his glasses again and said with a serious tone.

"We're not the alone in Kamoshida's palace."

* * *

And with that, chapter four of P5: Another Thief concludes! thank you for reading!

The Phantom Thief(The official one) started to be aware of the presence of Akira(Jester) and Shiho(?) in the palace. What will happen afterwards? Will Akira and Shiho reveal themselves as the 'Other thieves', or successfully hide in the shadow and assisting them in a cryptic way?

Hope you would enjoy this story so far, reviews are welcome!


	5. Chapter 5: Another day, another life

[Shibuya's Main Street, Untouchable.]

"'Untouchable' was an airsoft shop owned by a man called Munehisa Iwai. Munehisa Iwai, or 'Iwai-san' as Akira called him was a middle-aged man with grey hair, faint stubble, sideburn and earrings. A tattoo of a gecko was also visible on the left side of his neck. Not only that, he usually has a lollipop in his mouth.

At first glance, Iwai seems like a man you don't want to have any association with. But when you really got to know him, he was actually a nice person to talk with and more.

"Hey, Iwai-san." Akira walked in the airsoft shop and greeted Iwai, "You still open, right?"

"Hm...?" Iwai looked from his newspaper and replied with a small smile, "Oh, it's you Akira."

"So, what do you want today?" He put down the newspaper to the counter desk and asked, "I got some new stuff recently."

"They'll cost 10000 yen at least, right?" Akira jokingly stated, earning a giggle from the shop owner.

"No, about 300 yen average."

"Hmm..." Akira was deep in thought for a moment as he scratches his chin, "I want a revolver, a revolver magnum."

"An interesting choice." Iwai walked into the storage behind the counter and took out a jet black .44 magnum revolver to the counter, "This is based on S&W .44 magnum."

"Or model 629 in another word." Akira took the magnum with a stupid grin on his face, and took aim to the other side of the shop, "This is fantastic! I'll have that."

"A brilliant choice." Iwai took the revolver from Akira's hand and put it back into a box, "Any more?"

"Yeah, I want to have a sniper rifle." Since Shiho said that he would choose the firearm for her, Akira decided to let her have a sniper rifle. "And a one that is easy for an amateur, especially a girl."

"A girl? You're buying that for your girlfriend?" Iwai can't help but try to tease him, earning a slightly blushed face from the young man.

"Well... We're just friends."

"But from that reaction of your's... You have a crush on her, right?"

"Um... Yes." Akira finally gave in and answered with a sigh, "But there's something happened to her recently, and I don't want to push her too much..."

"I get that," Iwai breathed out, playing with his lollipop in his mouth, "You'd be a great person for her, I'm sure."

"Well...thanks, Iwai-san." Akira smiled with relief, but the swiftly changed their topic back to the guns, "So back to the guns..."

"Oh. A sniper rifle that's easy to use for a girl..." Iwai walked into the storage room again and took out a white model gun which looked like an AWM. He put it on the counter and suggested. "Maybe this would suit her."

"Wow... This is perfect for her!" Akira grinned from the sight of the beauty in front of his eyes. He took the sniper rifle and pretended to aim, "I'll take it, thank you Iwai-san!" He exclaimed in joy, putting the sniper rifle back to the counter.

"Your welcome." Iwai put the sniper rifle to another box, then walked to the counter, "So... 5200 yen in total, special discount for you included."

Akira paid for the guns and put the box which contained the magnum to his shoulder bag with the box which contained the sniper rifle to his hand. Leaving 'untouchable' with a goodbye to Iwai.

"Seeya, Iwai-san."

"Seeya kid."

* * *

[16th of April, school]

Ren was listening closely to Mr Ushimaru's lecture about the society when his phone suddenly buzzed. With a slight frown on his face, Ren took out his phone and checked who was messaging him.

It's Ryuji in the group chat.

**Ryuji: Hey, we'****re meeting up at the hideout after school, right?**

Ren noticed the frown from Ann when she replied to Ryuji.

**Ann: Don't text now. We're in class.**

**Ryuji: Whoa! You mean you're actually listening to all this crap?**

**Ren: Yep, but I just can't focus on what he is saying...**

**Ann: Yeah, but nothing of it is really sticking today...**

**Ryuji: I know, right?**

**Ryuji: Anyway, hideout after school?**

There's a slight pause before Ann replied.

**Ann: Where exactly is this 'hideout'?**

**Ryuji: the school roof.**

**Ann: Wait, we can still go up there? Even Akira's stopped going up there now.**

**Ryuji: Yeah, I'll let you in.**

**Ryuji: Welp, I'll be waiting. Just come on up once school's over.**

"Infiltration after school?"Ren looked at Morgana, who hid inside of his drawer with a raised eyebrow and whispered.

The feline just nodded in response.

With a nod of confirmation, Ren typed back to the other two thieves.

**Ren: Gotcha.**

**Ryuji: I'm gonna find you if you're late!**

But as the chat between the three thieves was over, Mr Ushimaru's sudden shout caught him by surprise. "Hey, Amamiya!"

"Hey! Pay attention! Is that how you listen when someone's talking to you!" Mr Ushimaru continued his wraith to Ren, his eyes filled with murderous intent.

then out of the sudden, the furious teacher suddenly threw his chalk toward Ren, straight in his forehead. Even Akira, who was studying the map he sketched to prepare their infiltration felt bad for the boy and took out a tube of medicine to him.

"Hey, You're OK?" Akira asked with a worried look.

"I'm fine..." Ren took the medicine and thanked him, "Thanks, Ichijou."

"That's what you get for daydreaming!" Mr Ushimaru shouted in anger, somehow even stronger than before, "Kids these days have no respect for their elders."

"good grief... Looks like you need more proficiency to dodge that." Morgana looked up at Ren for a brief moment before shaking his head in disappointment. Earning an annoyed look from him.

"yeah... I know."

But unaware to both of them, Akira witnessed the whole conversation.

'Is... Is that cat talking?' It took Akira a good few seconds before realising who exactly is that cat. 'Wait... the blue eyes, yellow collar and that voice... It's Morgana!' He thought with disbelief but regained his composture later.

Akira quickly took out his notebook, now changed its name to 'Theif's Notebook' and noted that Morgana is with Ren now in his profile about the feline. "So maybe... I should text Shiho and start the operation today..."

"Nah, I should tell her now." Akira whispered to himself and took out his phone to text Shiho about their business.

**Akira: Hey, Shiho.**

**Akira: I think we should start our infiltration today.**

**Shiho: Are you sure?**

**Shiho: Wait! You should be in class right now!**

**Akira: I'll be fine ;)**

**Akira: The board meeting will be held on 2nd May, we only have about two weeks to finish this. So we need to act, fast.**

**Akira: I still got the equipment in my bags, you're only needed to show after school.**

**Shiho: But would it be weird that I showed up at school when I should be at my home, taking my day off?**

**Akira: That said to them that I called you out for a date.**

**Akira: Wait, that sound wrong.**

**Akira: Whatever, I'll meet you at the front gate, OK?**

It's a long while before Shiho finally replied to him.

**Shiho: OK. Now back to your lesson, Aki-Chan.**

**Akira: We've talked about this back in middle school. Stop calling me that.**

**Shiho: But I want to :P**

With a sigh of defeat, Akira pocketed his phone and turned his attention back to Mr Ushimaru's boring lecture.

[After school, School's front gate]

Once the school's over, Akira bolted out of his chair and rushed towards the front gate, making Ann and Ren wondered for his weird action.

"What the-" Ann interrupted herself, still staring at the door of the classroom with awe. "I've never seen Akira be this eager to leave school like, ever."

"Well, never judge a book by its cover." Ren quickly snapped out from his thought and called Ann, "Ann, let's go."

On the other hand, Akira swiftly rushed down to the gate in the shortest route possible and noticed Shiho. She's now wearing a blue T-shirt with 'Swan' written on the chest area with a white sports jacket over the T-shirt, black hot pants and a pair of white trainers with blue highlight.

"Shiho!" Akira greeted her with a big grin and ran up to her. "Sorry for the wait."

"No worries, I just got here for a few minutes." Shiho replied with a small smile on her face, originally intended that he would be late for at least fifteen minutes. "so, let's go?"

"Of course," Akira smirked and took Shiho to the dark alleyway and took out his phone. Quickly tapping the navigator app.

_**"Beginning Navigation"**_

* * *

[Kamoshida's palace, front enterance]

Once the duo was in the palace, Akira took out the sniper rifle and gave it to Shiho. "So Shiho, this is the gun I bought for you yesterday."

"A sniper rifle?" Shiho took the rifle and examined it closely. "It looked great, but is it real?"

"Nah, it's just a model gun." Akira then took out his revolver and show it to her, "but if we or the shadow believes that these are real. Then it'll fire a real bullet."

"It's kinda complicated..." Shiho aimed with the sniper rifle, try to get a grip with it. "Um... Akira, how much are these guns? I want to pay you back for these..." She asked.

"You don't need to repay for them, my monthly allowance is well enough to handle these purchases." Akira spun his revolver for a few times before putting it back to the holster, a genuine smile on his face. "Consider it as a gift for you."

"...Thanks, Akira." Shiho thanked with a look of disbelief.

Akira suddenly remembered that they shouldn't call each other in this world. After all, they're Phantom Thief, unofficial or not. "Please, call me Jester." he requested.

"What? We're now calling each other in codenames?" Shiho was dumbfounded at Jester's sudden word. "I admit, Jester is cool..."

"You should get one too, Shiho." Jester suggested.

After a few seconds of consideration, Shiho agreed with a nod. "OK, So...what codename should I choose?"

"Uh..." Jester thought for a moment, "Pure?"

"That's...weird. At least in my case."

"Um... If no then..." Jester was in deep thought again for a good fifteen seconds before something hit his mind. "Oh! How about 'Swan'?"

"Swan?" Shiho asked with a raised eyebrow, "Why?"

"Well, first your outfit's colour is mostly white, and your mask is a birdlike mask..." Jester explained with a thoughtful look. "And I remembered that you're T-shirt also have the word 'Swan' on it..."

"Swan... I'll take it." Shiho accepted Jester's suggestion with a small smile, "Let's go then, Jester?"

"After you."

With that said, the duo quickly entered the castle through the air vent on the castle's wall and entered the West Building.

They entered the first floor of the West Building, they noticed that only one door in the north wasn't blocked by metal bars and decided to push open the wooden door. Noticed that two guards are patrolling the kitchen area, they swiftly took cover behind one of those tables.

Jester pulled out a small silver box with a square button on the side and gave it to Swan. "This is a grappling hook I made for you last night." He stated, sounded serious.

"You made this?!" Swan took the grappling hook and examined it, "T-Thanks." She said with disbelief.

Jester only nodded in response. "Press the button to fire the wire to an enemy or wall, press again to pull yourself toward whatever the hook attached to, again to release the hook back to the body." He continued to explain.

"OK, I... think I get it now." Swan readied her grappling hook peeked around towards the shadow.

"This is the plan, Swan," Jester whispered, took out his grappling hook as well. "You take the left one while I got the right one. Just climb on their back and rip off their mask."

"OK." With a nod of confirmation, Swan aimed her grappling towards the incoming guard, waiting for his command.

"3... 2... 1... Now!"

With Jester's command, the thief duo fired their hook to the back of those two guards, pulling the duo toward them. With perfect synchronization, Swan and Jester ripped the mask and jumped back to the ground, standing side by side.

the guards twitched uncontrollably before dissolving into two pile of black goo, then a group of two Succubus and three Kelpie appeared in front of them. With no hesitation, Jester summoned Moriarty and fired a shot toward one of the Succubus, knocking her down.

Taking this as an opportunity, Jester quickly fired another bullet toward another Kelpie, dealing some damage. Swan then summoned Jeanne and attacked the knocked Succubus with a Giant Slice, killing it.

The two Kelpie then cast two Garu toward the duo, a barrage of wind attacking them but was unsuccessful as Jester covered Swan's body with his. Only took a small amount of damage as he resists wind attack.

"Moriarty! Magaru!"

A wave of Wind strikes the group of shadows, severely injuring the two Succubus while killing the other two Kelpie in the process. "Swan! Your turn now!"

"I know!" With a smirk on her face, Swan summoned Jeanne again. "Let's finish this! Makouha!"

An arrow formed entirely by light hit the two Succubus, knocking them down while almost killing them.

Swan and Jester looked at each other for a brief moment. Without a word, they jumped into the air and strike the shadows from all directions with no mercy. Then Jester came back down to the ground, playing with his scythe, he greeted farewell as the shadow dissolved into nothing.

"Arrivederci."

Once the battle is over, the duo noticed that those fallen shadows had left some money and healing item on the ground and picked them up.

"This could recover our injuries," Jester examined the medicine in his hand and turned to Swan. "in case you're knocked down or unable to fight." He said jokingly.

"I think you'll be the one who got knocked down before me," Swan replied, also jokingly. "Since you always took those attack for my sake."

It took a few second before Jester finally realised that Swan meant and rubbed his neck, blushing slightly. "Maybe you're right."

With a victorious grin on her face, Swan quickly ran toward the door and pushed it open. There is only one shadow patrolling this area. Swan, who was on the lead, quickly dashed to it's back and ripped its mask, revealing a single Agathion

"Moriarty! Revolver Shot!"

"Jeanne! Zio!"

The two Persona fired a bullet and cast a bolt of lightning towards the blue apprentice. Unfortunately, their attack only about to deal a small amount of damage to it. The apprentice cast a Zio toward Jester in return, knocking him down and dealt a considerable amount of damage.

The apprentice taking it as another chance and attacked Swan, but she dodged its attack by leaping to aside. She clutched her sabre and impaled the Agathion in the head.

"Giant Slice!" Swan commanded his Persona with a roar and Jeanne quickly slashed the shadow in half with her long sword, killing it.

Once the shadow was killed, Swan rushed to Jester's side and helped him up. "Dia." Jester felt a sense of energy rushed through his body, healing his earlier injuries.

"I'm good now." Jester stretched himself and gave her a reassuring smile. "Let's continue, shall we?"

With a nod, the duo continued their infiltration.

* * *

[After a while, Yongen-jaya Backstreets]

After their meeting on the school rooftop, Ren was dragged back to Yongen-Jaya from Morgana's request.

"So..." Ren frowned slightly as he's now back in where he's from. "Why were back in here?"

"Ren, remember that customer you met at Leblanc yesterday?" Morgana poked his head from Ren's shoulderbag and asked. "the doctor who prescribes medication after a quick examination? She was sitting at the booth..."

"Yeah, I remember that." Ren replied with a nod, memories from yesterday start to crawl back to the surface. "That goth lady, right?"

"I just realized something." Morgana said, "If she's the kind of doctor who gets sketchy rumours like that, maybe she'll help us out."

"She's somewhere in the neighbourhood, right? Take me to her."

"But she won't understand you, Morgana." Ren just frowned again from the feline's word, not sure that this would work or not.

Morgana just glared down at him. With a defeated sigh, Ren followed his request and walked around for a short while until they reach a building with the only clinic in the area, presumably the clinic of that doctor.

But once they reached the clinic, Morgana suddenly spoke again. "Now, how can we get them to give us some medicine...?"

"We'll make something up." Ren pushed his glasses, internally hoping this would go smoothly.

"...Well, I guess that's the only choice we have." Morgana said.

They called the elevator and went up. Once they reached the second floor, they noticed the small signboard next to a blue door which said 'Takemi Medical Clinic'. Ren swallowed and turned open the door, entering the clinic.

The clinic's waiting room was brightly lit, a small bathroom at the end. And next to the door was the receptionist window, where a lady with neck-length blue hair with a lab coat stayed.

"...Is this your first visit?" The lady noticed Ren approached and asked languidly.

Upon closer inspection, the lady seems to wear a spiked collar around her neck with a few more thin necklaces with it, a short grey dress an a pair of black high heels.

"Yes..." Ren answered, still nervous from the fact that he needs to lie to this beautiful lady.

"Hm?" The doctor looked at Ren for a moment before saying languidly again. "I feel like I've seen you somewhere before..."

"At Leblanc." Ren answered with the best smile he can.

The lady just tiredly nodded at Ren's response. "Hmmm... Well, whatever..."

"So, what are you here today?" She continued.

'Ugh... What should I say...' After two seconds of brainstorming, Ren smoothly lied to her. "I've been having nightmares."

"..." the doctor narrowed her eyes at Ren, but then sighed in the end. "...fine."

She pointed to the door at Ren's right and instructed, "Please head to the exam room."

Ren sweatdropped, but followed her instruction and entered the exam room. After a series of question from the doctor, which Ren smoothly lied (With the help from Morgana).

"...In a case like yours, it's usually just due to stress." After the questions were asked, the doctor checked the symptoms and stated. "I'm going to prescribe you some pain relievers, OK?"

Ren only nodded in response, holding back a sigh of relief.

But the doctor suddenly remembered about something and sighed. "Actually, I still need to restock those..." She murmured.

"So let's go with sleeping pills instead. Sleep is the best medicine anyway." the doctor quickly changed the prescription to 'Sleeping pill'. "which type of pill do you want, a sweet-tasting one or a bitter one?"

'Are you serious...' Ren internally cursed at his own unluckiness, biting his lip.

"That all you have...?" Ren noticed the angry look from the doctor, instantly regretting his choice of word.

"Huh...? You're the patient here, you know." She put down the clipboard and stared at him in the eyes. "Do you think you should be telling me how to do my job?"

After a few second of thought, she 'Tch'ed and murmured, "...So, it's just like I thought."

"You're not sick at all, are you?" She put the clipboard back to the table aside and continues to stare at him. "I'm not as dumb as I look, you know."

Seeing Ren's apologetic look, the doctor's feature softened, "...I'm guessing you're here because you heard the rumours about me, huh?"

Ren at this point had no other choice but be honest, "Are those rumours true?"

Hearing her response, the doctor sighed and crossed her leg, "Who's to say? But as a result, all I get are patients with ulterior motives now."

"I guess high school kids have it tough nowadays too, huh?" She leaned in closer to him, the word 'interested' written on her face.

"Well, fine. I'll prescribe you some medication." She noticed the look of disbelief and nodded, "But only medication that will help you recover your health."

"I guess it's fine. You seem pretty earnest, and you don't look like you'll be in any trouble." The doctor looked down and murmured, "Kinda reminded me with guinea pig..."

"back to the topic." She quickly snapped out from her thought and rubbed her neck out of tiredness. "This is my private practice. All the medicine I dispense is original."

"I have a license to make my own formulas. You've likely seen them being sold at various hospitals." the doctor explained. "It's your responsibility to take care of yourself. So if that's OK with you, stop by anytime."

With a nod from Ren, they had made a deal. The doctor- Tae Takemi would sell him medicines. But in returns, he needed to be her test subject or 'guinea pig' as she called it.

After the deal was made. Ren walked out from the exam room and ready to leave, the sight of someone else halted him.

"What, Ren?" Morgana poked his head out to look at what Ren was seeing, "Wha-"

It was Akira.

"Um... Hey, Amamiya." Akira awkwardly laughed, rubbing his neck. "Didn't expect you to be here."

"Hey, Ichijou..." Ren just waved back in the same awkward way, "Didn't expect you to be here too."

Then just silence, silence between the two boys.

"Oh, guinea pig! It's been a while!" Takemi suddenly said with enthusiasm, making the two boys jumped in surprise at the same time.

"Oh hey, Takemi-san." Akira quickly turned his attention to the goth doctor and greeted with a smile. "Um... I want to buy some medicine."

"Then please into the exam room, as always." Takemi pointed at the exam room again, this time with a small smile. "But I'll let you two talked for a bit before what you came back in."

"Well, I'll be quick." After Takemi was inside the exam room, Akira turned his attention back to Ren, "So... You're also here for some medicine?"

"Yeah..." Ren coughed and pushed his glasses again, "So you know her?"

"Yep, since I had many fights with Kamoshida back then, I have to find some medicine that could heal me fast." Akira winced from those memories but quickly regained his composure. "So now I am a 'guinea pig' for her new medicine."

"New medicine?" Ren wondered.

"I don't know the details, but I think it's for someone who is in need." Akira patted his shoulder to calm him down. "She seems like those people who have a really bad lifestyle, but she is a good person in heart."

"Well, see you on Monday, Amamiya." he then headed toward the exam room, but then remembered something, "Also, just call me Akira."

Ren turned around and nodded, "Well, you can call me Ren too."

Akira just smiles in return and entered the exam room.

However, Morgana who was inside of Ren's bag frowned from Akira's word, something's not right about him.

"His voice seems familiar for some reason... Have I heard it somewhere else before?"

* * *

And with this, chapter 5 of P5: Another Thief finished!

So I want to add some back story of Akira in here. First, he's lived his apartment alone in Yongen-Jaya, which the Kirijo Group bought for him, for about 2 years, with an allowance of about 200000 yen each month from Mitsruru herself.

But why would he lived alone for 2 years... I cannot talk about it since it's a spoiler.

**The next chapter:**

both the duo of Jester and Swan and Phantom Thief fully started their infiltration of Kamoshida's palace. But as they are infiltrating at the same time and the same place, this is not going to be easy for both of them...

Hope you would enjoy this story so far, reviews are welcome!


	6. Chapter 6: Another Infiltration

[18th April, morning]

After a day off from both school and palace infiltration, the boring day in Shujin began again. Akira was walking with Shiho by his side toward the school when they noticed Kamoshida was standing at the front gate, greeting everyone he saw.

"Good morning! C'mon, hurry up and get to class!"

"...!" Shiho hastily clung to Akira's left arm once she saw Kamoshida, the memories of that day crawling back to the surface. "Why is he here..."

"It'll be OK." Akira patted her head reassuringly with his spare arm and whispered. "He can't do anything to us."

The duo kept their head down and tried to pass the teacher without him noticing, but it failed. "Good morning." Kamoshida suddenly said, catching the duo by surprise.

"Good morning." Akira replied perfunctorily and proceed to walk toward the school, earning an annoyed look from the teacher.

"At least I don't need to face you brat after the board meeting." He murmured cockily and loudly, letting Akira heard his words.

"Huh, we shared the same thought, how unlucky am I." Akira replied with a small smirk on his face, making Kamoshida felt irritated. "Remember, nothing is certain. Mr. Ka-mo-shi-da."

Akira then turned to Shiho and asked gently, "Well, Shiho. Let's do what Mr. Kamoshida said and get to class, shall we?"

With a hesitant nod from her, the duo then ignored Kamoshida and entered the school. "Phew... I did it..." Once Kamoshida was gone from their sight, Akira instantly dropped his cocky face and sighed in relief.

"You did a great job though." Shiho also sighed and loosened her grip on Akira's arm. "So... castle infiltration today?" she asked with a raised eyebrow.

"Yep." Akira nodded with determination. "but where should we meet up?"

"Um..." Shiho was in deep thought for a short while before suggested to Akira, "Rooftop?"

"OK, then see you after school." Akira scratched his body and lead the volleyball player to her class before saying goodbye to her.

[During class]

It was class as usual again. Everyone in Class 2-D was focused on what the teacher's saying, including Ren and Ann. But then a synchronized 'buzz' from their phone interrupted them, causing the two thieves to check what's going on.

**Ryuji: So I saw Kamoshida at the school gate this morning.**

**Ryuji: He was just standing there looking at me with this shit-eating grin on his face.**

**Ann: Ugh, that's annoying... He was probably mocking you.**

**Ann: But I heard that Akira mocked him back somehow, weird.**

**Ryuji: Oh yeah! I saw that!**

**Ryuji: He just slapped him in the face with that 'reverse' card!**

**Ryuji: But honestly, seeing that got me even more fired up about this.**

**Ann: Yeah, I heard that Shiho came back today and I'm worried about her. But I want to concentrate on our operation too.**

**Ann: And I won't let myself get exhausted like last time.**

**Ryuji: The board meeting's May 2nd, tight?**

**Ryuji: We just gotta take care of him before then.**

**Ren: I'm ready for this, this is our only way.**

**Ryuji: Same goes for me.**

**Ann: Me too!**

**Ann: I'll do my best. No going without me, OK?**

**Ren: Of course.**

**Ryuji: Yeah, you better let us know if you're going into the palace.**

**Ren: I don't want that situation to happen again.**

**Ann: Which one do you say? The outfit one or something even worse?**

**Ren: ...That one about being captured! It's not what you think, Ann.**

**Ann: Haha, I'm just teasing you.**

**Ryuji: Dude, no PDA in the group chat!**

**Ren: I hate you, both of you.**

With an irritated sigh, Ren put his phone back to his pocket and continued his focus on the lesson, trying to forget their conversation. Of course, only the part about his 'PDA' with Ann.

On the other hand, Akira didn't even look at the teacher for the whole lesson. He's just too occupied on studying his notebook about the palace.

"So... Most shadows with wings are weak to gun attack..." He murmured while examining his profile for each shadow they encountered during the infiltration. "But that knight on the red horse is null to gun attack. Also, that fairy girl is weak to curse, the Pyromaniac with a pumpkin head is weak to wind as well..."

After about a whole hour of studying shadows, Akira just gave up and put his attention back to the class. In the end, he failed on both fronts.

[After class, the door to the rooftop.]

After meeting up with Shiho in the stairs lead to the rooftop, the duo sneaked up the stairs while making sure that no one is watching them. But as they reached the door and about to open the door, Shiho and Akira noticed a few people are sitting in a group and quickly hid behind it. Only peeking out to see what's going on.

"Wait... Ann?!" Shiho silently exclaimed, staring at the other side with disbelief. "Also, why Sakamoto and Amamiya are with her?"

"Well..." Akira paused with an awkward look. "I think they are Infiltrating the palace as well."

"All three of them, including the cat, are Persona users." He then quickly explained.

"Huh?" Shiho breathed with wide-eyes, couldn't believe what she just heard "You mean not only we have the power, but Ann, Sakamoto, and Amamiya as well?!"

"Yeah..." Akira awkwardly rubbed his neck, feeling the intense glare from her, "I forgot to tell you about that, sorry."

Shiho just sighed in frustration and pulled out her phone, opening the navigation app. "Enough waiting, let's go."

"After you."

With a nod to each other, Shiho clicked the location and disappeared in the spot.

[Kamoshida's palace, Saferoom in the first floor of West building]

"So now we can teleport between saferooms... That's convenient." Once the duo was inside of the saferoom, Jester quickly noted down the ability to teleport between safe rooms to his notebook.

"Jester, you finished?" Swan stretched her gloves and asked calmly.

"Yeah," Jester replied, closing his notebook. "Let's kill some shadow."

The two thieves then exited the saferoom and ran through the hallways in shadow, killing some shadows in the process. After some battles and running, they reached a library filled with books in the East Building.

"Library in a castle... That's weird." Jester examined those books out of curiosity, only to be weird out by the titles of those books. "Ugh... Swan, I think we should not read these books." He said to Swan, who was examining the book on the other side.

"'Kamoshida's Heroisms', 'The History of Kamoshida', 'Tracing Kamoshida's Steps'... These names only represent Kamoshida's ego, at most." Swan replied with a confused look, wondering about his reason.

"Well, mine is..." Jester reluctantly read the name of those books, only to be angered by them. "'Ann Takamaki: The Charming Doll', 'Shiho Suzui: The Weakening Swan'... Jesus, these titles are whole another level!"

"Well... I guess you're right." Shiho cringed from those titles and continue to examine those books, but the sound of the door opening caught their attention.

The two thieves quickly fired their grappling hook and hid on top of the bookshelf. Luckily (or unfortunately for them), it's the other group of Phantom Thieves.

"Whoa, it's so musty..." Ann, now Panther stared the image in front of her and coughed as the dust caught to her.

"A library, huh?" Mona raised an eyebrow as the scene before him. "This definitely seems fishy."

"Whaddya mean?" Skull asked.

"Come on, it's a library in a castle." Morgana frowned from Skull's question and glared at him. "There has to be some kind of secret mechanism in here."

Seeing no response from Skull, Mona turned to Joker and said, "Let's look around, Joker."

The four thieves nodded to each other and started to look around, while Swan and Jester were observing them from the top of the shelf. Skull look into the bookshelf Swan was looking at and spoke out loud.

"'Tracing Kamoshida's Steps'... 'Kamoshida's Heroisms'... 'Kamoshida's Law'...?" Skull exclaimed in awe, surprised by those book's titles. "What the hell?! All these goddamn books're about Kamoshida!"

Mona suddenly remembered something and asked Joker about the book they found earlier, "That reminds me, we found a book earlier, didn't we?"

"Yep." Joker nodded and took out the book they just found earlier, 'The slave book'. "Let's try putting it in. There's an empty spot after all."

"Yeah," Mona agreed, observing the space for another closer look. "something might happen if we put a book in there..."

Joker put in 'The King's Book' and punched it with his hand to make sure it's fully slotted on the shelf. But, nothing happened.

"Um..." Joker awkwardly coughed and looked at the others, "Maybe there is another empty slot like this. Let's look around."

The four thieves nodded and on their way to examine the other bookshelf.

"Hey... Everyone" Panther suddenly spoke up when they examining those bookshelves. "I don't know what is it but... There is something wrong with this entire infiltration."

"Yeah, I've noticed this too." Skull agreed, "Too many rooms with no shadows for some reason..."

"There should be much more shadows..." Mona frowned from the strange situation they got themselves in. "Maybe... Jester and that girl are here with us?"

"This could be a possibility." Joker commented on Mona's question, putting the final book to the empty slot.

With a click from the bookshelf, the thieves heard some rumbling close by. A wall separated and slid apart, revealing another room like the one Panther was in before.

"Whoa, it opened up!" Skull gasped in wonder.

"Yes! Let's take a look around!" Without another word, Mona rushed in and was followed by the others.

Once they're inside the mysterious room, the thieves looked around with wide-eyes. It's almost identical to Panther's with the X-Shape cross with steel handcuff and two wooden stocks gangling ominously from the side. The floor was lit by candles and filled with rose petals. And the wall was plastered with photos of Shiho, mostly focus on her face, breast, and rear.

"Ugh... The hell is this room?" Skull exclaimed, staring the whole room with disbelief. "These photos... It's all about Suzui!"

"Shiho..." Panther stared at those photos with rage, her hand clutched so hard that her gloves started to squeak. But a gentle pat from Joker made her calmed for a little.

"We'll make him pay for what he has done, not just for Suzui." Joker said. a determined look leaked through his mask. "But for everyone."

"Yeah... Definitely." Panther replied with a determined nod, anger leaked through her voice. "I feel even more motivated to do this now."

Mona looked at Panther sympathetically, but then also nodded determinately. "I'm sure it'll feel awful, but we should search this room. There has to be something in here if he was hiding it with such an elaborate trick."

They nodded in agreement and spread out to look around in this disgusting room. "Hey guys, I found a medal!" Skull shouted excitingly, calling the others to come here.

"That size, and that shape..." Mona examined the medal before exclaimed loudly. "I think that's out key!"

He turned to Joker and asked, "Remember that round indentation we saw back near those bars?"

"Yep." Joker nodded and pocketed the medal, then he examined the piece of paper the medal was rested on. "This is the other half of the map!" He exclaimed in relief.

"This is lucky! Let's take it with us!" Mona jumped again and again from excitement. "Aha! Our map is complete now-"

Before Mona could finish his sentences, the sound of someone opening and closing the door rang loudly through the whole room. Catching everyone's attention.

"It's gotta be Jester and that girl!" Skull gasped before rushing through the door with Mona beside him. "Joker! Panther! We'll chase after 'em, you two go exploring first!"

"OK! We'll meet up in the saferoom!"

Seeing a nod from both of them, Skull and Mona exited the room and chase after the mysterious duo.

* * *

[The hallway of the 3F]

"Hey! Wait up!" Skull shouted, Running in full speed behind the other duo. "We're just wanna talk!"

"Jester, maybe we should talk to them..." Swan whispered between panting, still running at max speed. "We'd face them one day or another..."

"I know..." Jester was deep in thought for a short while before replying to her, "Swan, I'll talk to them. You go first, OK?"

"What?!" Swan quietly exclaimed with a look of disbelief, but she compromised in the end. "I'll wait in saferoom."

With a nod to each other, Swan quickly fired her grappling hook around the corner and kept running in the shadow. Meanwhile, Jester slowly slackened his pace until that he was standing in the middle of the hallway, facing away from Mona and Skull.

"Huh?" Skull was staring at Jester's back with a look of confusion, confused from his decision. "Jester, why did you stop?"

"This is not good..." Mona whispered to Skull while holding him away from approaching Jester, narrowing his eyes toward him. "You're going to fight, right?"

Jester took a deep breath and said with a calm tone. "Actually, no."

"You four are also targetting Kamoshida, right?" He continued to ask them, still facing away from the two.

"Y-Yeah... So are you, right?" Mona asked back.

"Yes." With a nod, Jester apologized to Mona about the memory wipe he did to him a while ago, "Also, sorry Mona. I wiped your memory about you teaching me about the palace and stuff, I did this to hide my own identity."

"What?!" Mona exclaimed, eyes open-wide with disbelief. "So that's why I got those memory fragments about you..."

"So, what do you want to talk about?" Jester said with an impatient undertone, "I don't have much time."

"Jester, this is your codename right?" Seeing a nod from him, Skull continues to ask. "Why are you and that girl want to take down Kamoshida?"

"Well... First, that girl is called Swan, she is my partner." Jester answered, stuffing his hand into the pockets of his coat. "And this is the only way to take down Kamoshida, right? Everyone just kept protecting him."

"So..." Mona thought for a moment before answering, "You're also a student in Shujin and you know what Kamoshida has done."

"Correct. We just want to make him pay for everything he'd done." Jester said, took out his grappling hook from his pocket in the process. "We'll assist you every step on the way in the shadow. However, don't expect us to disclose our identity to all of you... yet."

He then fired his grappling hook instantly and pulled into the shadow, disappearing in the thieves' sight.

* * *

[Saferoom in the 2F of Old Castle]

Swan was waiting impatiently in the saferoom with her mask lifted to her forehead when Jester swiftly opened the door and entered.

"So, how's the 'talk'?" She questioned, crossing her arms in front of her chest.

"Yeah, it went well." Jester took off his mask and put it on his tophat. "At least I let them know that we're not enemies."

"That sounds very promising." The white thief replied sarcastically, but sighed soon afterward. "So, we'll help them in the shadow?"

"Yep." he answered, taking out his notebook. "But as we don't have the complete map of this castle... I think we should follow them for the rest of the infiltration."

"...I'm fine with that." Swan put the mask back on to her face and asked, "So... Continue?"

"Yes." Jester answered, also putting his mask back on, "Let's go."

* * *

On the other hand, in the saferoom of the third floor of the castle. Joker and Panther couldn't believe what they just heard as skull and Mona

"So... they're just like us." Joker murmured, rubbing his chin in the process. "Skull, can you describe the other girl... Swan for me?"

"Well... She's wearing a white coat, just like yours." Skull answered, trying to recall his memories about Swan. "black ponytail... that's all I can remember."

"Well, that's VERY useful." Panther said sarcastically, intentionally scratched the word 'very' to emphasize that. "But they said that they're going to help us, so problem solved?"

"Maybe," Joker sighed, decided to put the Jester business in the background. "So...continue?"

"hell yeah!" Skull exclaimed with a grin on his face, pumping his fist to another. "Let's go! Leader."

"As Jester helped us clean up some of the shadows, I think we can go even further than before." Mona said with confidence, crossing his paws in front of his chest. "If we're lucky enough, we may able to secure the infiltration route today!"

"Me too!" Panther also exclaimed with confidence, "for the sake of everyone!"

"Very well." Joker smirked and pushed open the door of the safe room, the others soon followed.

* * *

After a short while of hopping from cover to cover, and some minor battles to the guards. The Phantom Thieves found opened the previously barred doors and opened the Annex of East building. They walked down the stairs and found another safe room.

Meanwhile, Jester and Swan were following them in the ledges of the hallway with the help from their grappling hook. After their short break on the ledges as the Phantom Thieves entered the safe room for another break. They continue their infiltration and found themselves inside of a church-like room, with a huge statue of Kamoshida in the center.

the room wavered, turning into the gym of Shujin Academy's before turning back.

Jester and Swan look at each other before looking back to the 'church', "Holy... Even I underestimated the size of his ego..." He whispered in disbelief.

"Jesus... Kamoshida thinks he's the god in the gym..." Swan bit her lips as the remembered the abuses she received in this exact gym. "No wonder that he'd did those things..."

Meanwhile, the other four thieves on the ground were still in disbelief at what they saw. "Wait, was that... the gym?" Panther blinked multiple times, trying to know whether what she saw was real or not.

"I get it..." Skull murmured, glaring at the statue with disgust. "The gym's some kinda holy place for him. He's a god here."

Even though Joker didn't say anything and seems to be darting his eyes around for enemies and other things, but he's equally disgusted as well. They walked up to the statue afterward, with Jester and Swan still staying in their hiding spot.

"Jester... Maybe you should be closer to them, I got a bad feeling about this." Swan whispered to Jester while holding her sniper rifle, aimed at statue's direction. "I'll provide cover fire for all of you."

"Well... Stay safe" With that being said, Jester quickly grappled himself to another ledge closer to the other Phantom Thieves, taking his magnum revolver out from his holster.

"God, that bastard makes me so freakin' sick! Just you wait, Kamoshida!" Skull shouted to the statue in front of him, clutching his fist.

But then a mysterious voice suddenly rang in front of them, causing them to step back a few steps.

"I see... So you're the one who tampered with the library." the voice said. "It seems my time waiting here has paid off..."

Then, A soldier with golden armor suddenly appeared out from the ground, staring straight at them. "Just as the ape there said, this place is a holy ground for our great King Kamoshida." It plainly said. "It is preposterous for miscreants like yourselves to come waltzing in like this."

Then the soldier twitched and convulsed uncontrollably, dissolved to black goo before changing into a Medival soldier with red wings behind him. Or a Heavenly Punisher for short. "How dare you... You will pay for foolishly defying King Kamoshida... with your lives!" It shouted as it raised its sword, striking toward Skull.

But then a sound of a gunshot from somewhere far behind suddenly rang through the whole church and the shadow got hit by a bullet in the head afterward, stunning him.

Soon after that, the voice of Jester suddenly rang in the dark.

"Moriarty! Garula!"

Moriarty instantly appeared in the air and snapped his finger, sending a small blast of wind towards it, dealing some damage. Skull sees this as his opportunity and summoned captain Kidd, using cleave to damage it further.

However, the soldier didn't flinch after the two attacks. Instead, he charges his next attack and targeted Panther, who was not quick enough to guard herself. Luckily. Moriarty quickly flew in front of her and took the damage from her.

"Urgh!" Jester groaned in pain as he took the damage head-on. "Dammit... It hit harder than I thought."

"T-Thanks, Jester!" Panther quickly exclaimed to nowhere, thanking Jester before summoning Carmen, sending a ball of fire to the shadow.

However, the soldier only shrugged it off like nothing. Then it charged again to strike toward Mona. Fortunately, Mona was quick enough to dodge the Cleave attack.

"Phew..." Mona swiftly summoned Zorro and shouted, "Garu!"

The Persona sent out another wave of wind towards the soldier. Dealing fewer but still a considerable amount of damage.

"Agathion! Lunge!" Joker pressed on his mask and summoned Agathion, smashing into the soldier. But also surprised Jester in the meantime.

"So he can control multiple Persona... interesting." He thought.

"Captain Kidd!" Skull then attacked with another Lunge to the soldier, causing even more damage to it.

Knowing that her Persona's attack is not effective against the shadow, Panther quickly slashed her whips to it, damaging it even further.

Joker then quickly slashed his dagger against the shadow. With a backward roll on the ground, he fired a bullet to the soldier, knocking it down.

"Everyone! All-Out Attack!"

Without another word, The four thieves jumped into the air and strike the soldier from every angle possible. Unfortunately, the shadow was able to survive the attack.

"Moriarty/Jeanne! Garula/Giant Slice!" Once the All-Out Attack was ended, the Personas of Jester and Swan appeared in the sky and slashed the shadow with Jeanne's blade and Moriarty's wind. Dealing the final blow to kill it.

"Didn't realize those things could be that tough..." Skull said between heavy panting, using his knees as support.

"Yeah," Mona nodded, "It looks like he's making a concerted effort to stop us now."

"We'll have to do our best from here on out!" Joker said, pulling the edge of his red gloves. "Also, Jester, Swan. Thank you! "

In the meantime, Jester smiled as he heard the appreciation from Joker. But the pain finally got to the better of him and caused him to collapse, only to be held by Swan.

"You took too much damage from that one hit!" Swan quietly exclaimed as she examined the injuries on him and quickly cast a Dia on him. A feeling of energy rushed through his body and made him felt a bit better. "Why would you do that?!"

"Well, it's Ann we're talking about." Jester breathed with a weak smile, "It's just my impulse... I think."

"You're such a huge baka, you know." Swan could only sigh with a worried look from Jester's word. "But that's why I kinda like you..." She murmured to herself.

"Same word as Ann... She's such a bad influencer to you, Shiho." The male thief laughed quietly, earning a smack to his shoulder from her.

"It's you who influenced Ann!" The white thief glared directly at him, making him flinch a bit. "Also, codenames in palace!"

"Oh! sorry, Swan-chan." Jester jokingly said while sticking his tongue out, earning another glare from her.

"...No more healing for you." Swan plainly stated as she turned her head to another side, making Jester instantly dropped his mocking tone and beg her.

"I-I'm sorry, please don't do that!"

"Hmm... Maybe I'll consider that."

Swan was trying her best to not laugh at Jester's look of despair when the voice of the thieves below suddenly rang out. they quickly changed their attention back to them and listened.

"What should we do? Head back?" Panther asked worriedly to Joker.

"No, we're still able to go, right?" Joker turned to the other three thieves with a raised eyebrow. The other thieves nodded in return.

"The treasure in up ahead, there's mostly a path to it somewhere." Mona said, sensing the distortion start to strengthen. "We just need to be smart about this."

The four thieves continued their infiltration, decided to sneak past those shadows instead of fighting them to save strength. They jumped to the ledge of the church and found themselves in another room after a few minutes of sneaking, opening some chests in the process.

"We found a shortcut, fantastic!" Joker mused when they opened the door to the roof of the castle.

The rooftop consisted of about four or five shadows with dangerous aura patrolling. Knowing that fighting head-on was not an option, they sneaked past those shadows carefully. Hopping from box to box, they finally reached the single places with no fences blocking them.

"That matches up with the map." Mona whispered to Joker, "there's no doubt that's the tower we're looking for."

"But the door won't work, bro!" Skull quietly exclaimed after a few unsuccessful tries to open the entrance.

"Then the ledges might work." Panther said, pointing at the ledges.

They quickly jumped up on the stacked boxes, then the ledges. Running along the edges of the castle, before jumping up to the tower's wall and into an open window. Then they jumped down into an empty room and opened the door.

Once they opened the door, the room in front of them was very weird. There's a purple tint to the atmosphere, the floor which looked like a checkerboard moved to different height individually.

"Wh-What's going on?!" Panther asked, looking around with disbelief.

"The distortion is getting stronger... Ther treasure has got to be nearby!" Mona stated with a firm nod.

the four thieves continued to explore the tower. With the amount of cover available decreases, the infiltration became much harder than before. Luckily, they're still unnoticed to the shadows. After a few more rooms explored and discovered a secret elevator completely by accident, they found another safe room and quickly got inside.

Meanwhile, Jester and Swan were hanging on the ceiling of the tower by their grappling hook as there is much less place to land their foot on.

"I officially hate this place now." Jester groaned. "Hey Swan, you're OK?"

"I think so..." Swan said while switching her hand to hold the grappling hook. "But this place is the worst."

"Well, this is Kamoshida's heart after all."

"..." with a slight nod from her, the duo continued to hang on the ceiling in silence. Then after a few minutes, the four thieves exited the saferoom and continued their infiltration.

The four thieves hopped from one cover to another and ambushed as this is the only way. After two-floor worth of stairs and a few ambushes, they reached a large open room with two metal grates held up with large metal chains from the ceiling. To the side of the entrance was a small statue of Kamoshida, a large grin on his face.

"Disgusting..." Panther frowned.

Joker started walking down into the room with the others following him soon afterward. But as a giant blade swinging down at where he is. He suddenly jumped back, narrowly dodged the blade.

"Whoa, that was close..!" Panther gasped.

"Jesus... That scared me..." Joker breathed out, heart-pounding at his close call.

"Classic security measure." Mona frowned from the sight of multiple huge blade swing from side to side, "There's no way that we try to force our way through."

"Oh yeah, same for Panthers. So...what do we do?" Skull frowned, "No way we're gettin' through here as is."

"Maybe there's something fishy about that small statue." Joker said, examining the statue. "Huh, it's missing the eyes."

"Maybe we need to find the eyes to insert." Mona was rubbing chin, try to figure out the mechanism it uses. " Those heys probably are in the hand of a special enemy"

"Huh?" Joker thought for a short while before calling the others to search for the 'special enemy. "Well then... Let's look for those special enemies."

With a nod from the others, the four thieves left the room and search the key. But once they're gone, Jester and Swan jumped down to the hallway.

"Well, I think we already got one key already." Jester took out the right eye from his pocket and inserted it into the right socket of the statue.

"Maybe we need the other eye to make it work." Swan said, observing the other empty socket of the statue. "But it's their work from now on."

"...Wish them luck." Jester sighed and the duo grappled themselves back to the ledges on the top. Waiting for the other thieves to came back.

After about fifteen minutes, the four thieves came back to the room exhausted. They were surprised when they discovered that the right eye was already slotted in.

"Dude! So we ran through the whole tower for nothin'?!" Skull groaned in frustration, panting heavily in the meantime.

"I figured that Jester and Swan would help us with this..." Joker put the other eyes into the statue and pulled the chin. Thankfully, The swinging blade stopped.

"thank god..." Panther sighed with relief.

"Well... let's go, shall we?" Joker stated and crossed the huge open room.

They ran down the huge hallway and entered an empty hall that was filled with small Kamoshida statue on the dividers, parts of the floor having eroded away due to the distortion.

The thieves spotted another floating stairs machanism and ran up to it. Unlike what happened before, the steps didn't move at all.

"Huh?" Skull said, rubbing his head in confusion. "Why ain't it movin'?"

Then out of nowhere, another voice suddenly rang out to them. "Hmph. You are gravely mistaken if you think stairs will appear for you whenever you'd like."

The thieves looked around, spotting another shadow in golden armor materialized from the ground.

"So you're the one stopping them..." Mona muttered, glaring at the shadow.

"This majestic tower penetration the sky represents the admirable King Kamoshida's most sacred place." The shadow stated. "It is nowhere for children like yourselves! Prepare for your punishment!"

"What kind of selfish reasoning is that?!" Panther retorted in anger, glaring at it. "The only one who needs to be punished is-"

Panther's argument was interrupted as the shadow twitched uncontrollably and turned into a slime-like grey monster with a penis-like head. In all and all, extremely disgusting.

"A-Ahhhhhhhhh!" Panther took a few steps back in disgust, trying to unsee this... thing.

"What. The. F$#k." In the meantime, Jester cringed at the shadow, holding back from vomiting. "What the f$#k is this shit!"

"My life has been ruined..." Swan said to herself, clutching her eyes tight. "Please, someone... Delete this."

"It's coming!" Mona warned, somehow unfazed from the sight of this monstrosity.

"Let's kill this son of a bitch!" Skull exclaimed and summoned Captain Kidd. "Zio!"

The lightning strikes the monster but was unable to damage it for a considerable amount.

"Carmen! Agi!"

Then a barrage of fireball impacted the shadow, but still unable to damage it. Then Zorro cast a burst of wind and Arsene cast a burst of curse energy to it, but was unsuccessful.

"Maybe it resists to all elemental type!" Joker shouted to the other thieves. "I think we need to get our hand dirty this time!"

"Dammit." Skull murmured from Joker's word, then summoned Captain Kidd again. "Cleave!"

The pirate slammed itself to the monster. Luckily, the attack is effective this time. Jester and Swan took this as their opportunity and fired their guns to it, further damaging it.

But then the shadow used an assault dive and knocked the four thieves back onto the ground, almost killing them if not Moriarty shows up and stunned it with a revolver shot.

"No!" Swan quickly summoned Jeanne and shouted. "Requiem of Rebellion!"

The voice of the crystal woman rang through the whole room and cast a beam of light to the thieves. They felt the damage they took a moment ago started to heal and got back up from the ground.

"Well..." Joker said between heavy panting. "We can't let this monstrosity attack us again! Let's finish this ASAP!"

"Yeah!" Skull fired all round of his shotgun on it before summoned Captain Kidd again, using another cleave attack towards it.

Then Mona slashed it with his bandit sword a few times before high fiving with Panther, passing the baton to her. Panther whipped it with an immense amount of rage and sprayed all bullet of her submachine gun. Joker followed up with a few extra slash of his dagger and summoned Obariyon. "Snap!"

A huge bullet hit the Torn King of Desire, finally killed it.

"OK! We can keep movin' now!" Ryuji grinned, but then quickly slumped to the ground in exhaustion, "But man... If not because of that healing skill, we're already dead..."

"I-I'm so done with this place..." Panther cringed.

"You're not alone on this subject..." Joker sighed and wiped his dagger clean. "But we're getting close, let's go."

The thieves nodded to each other and continued on, running upwards now that the stairs were functioning. They tried a few doors along the way but they're all locked. Then the thieves found another safe room at the end of the hallway. After taking a break, the four continued their quest to the treasure.

They came back to the door of the King's hall. Knowing that the door won't work, the thieves jumped on to the pillars which looked like a female body and climbed again onto the ledge. jumping into the opening of the King's Hall, they found themselves in the balcony. Meanwhile, Kamoshida was talking to the soldiers below.

"How have you not captured the intruders yet?!" The King yelled, glaring at his guards with immense anger.

A soldier dropped his head and begged for forgiveness, "I apologize, my liege!"

"I bet he'd never imagine we're in the same room as him. Come on, let's keep moving." Mona snickered, looking at Joker.

They snuck around the balcony without being seen by any of those soldiers or Kamoshida himself. After that, they reached a large stone room which was filled with gold, the ground wasn't even visible under those precious items like crowns, jewels or necklaces. And in the middle of it all was a white orb, glowing and wavering in place.

"Whoa, what is this place?! Holy shit!" Skull exclaimed, his wide eyes darting around to those treasure. "That Treasure thing's gotta be in here!"

"H-Hey, what is that?" Panther noticed the orb and asked, stepping closer to it. "It's... floating in the air."

Mona jumped up to the grail, grinning at the orb with confidence. "Hehe... That's the Treasure! We finally found it!"

"Are you sure 'bout that though?" Skull questioned, rubbing his head. "How can we steal this thingy?"

"Same for me." Joker stated.

"Just hold on a second. I was planning on telling you more once we made it this far." Mona said, crossing his arm. "Simply finding the Treasure isn't enough. We'll need to make it materialize before we can steal it."

"what?" Panther asked, then soonly followed by Skull.

"whaddya mean?"

"Desires have no physical form by nature. Hence, we'll first need to make the real person aware that their desires are in fact a Treasure." Mona smirked and explained. "Once they're conscious that their desires might be stolen, the Treasure will finally show itself."

"So a calling card, right?' Joker said with a raised eyebrow, rubbing his chin. "That's probably what a Phantom Thief would do."

Mona nodded its head, equally excited. "Once we do that, the Treasure will appear!" Then a look of uncurtain suddenly took over the excited look before, "...Think."

Skull deflated and looked at Mona with a frown. "That again...?" He shook his head and cleared his thought. "Either way, sounds like it's worth givin' it a shot!"

The feline jumped in place and looked over at Joker. "Our infiltration route is secure. All that's left now is to pump out a calling card in reality, then come back to take the Treasure!"

"Well, infiltration successful, I guess." Joker smirked, then turned into the shadow behind. "Well, Jester. Since you're a Shujin student as well, I think you'll know when we're going to steal the treasure. We'll make sure that everyone would see that."

Even though no response cam from the duo in the shadow, but Joker knows that they got the message loud and clear from the bottom of his heart. Then he turned back to his teammates.

"Once we send out the calling card, there will be no turning back." Mona stated with a serious look. "Just let me know when you're ready. We'll head back to the roof and send out that calling card!"

"OK." Joker breathed deeply and said to the others with a smirk on his face. "Let's leave for now."

"The next time we're back, we'll finish this once and for all."

* * *

And with that, chapter six of P5: Another Thief concludes! thank you for reading!

First, sorry for taking this much time to publish this chapter. It's just taken me a few rewrites to finish this.

But in the next chapter, the boss fight of Kamoshida begins! The calling card has been sent and seen by the teacher. The Phantom thieves and the duo would only have this one chance to change his heart.

This is the battle of their lives. And they can't lose, for everyone.

I hope you would enjoy this story so far, reviews are welcome!


	7. Chapter 7: End of A King

[19th April, after school]

After the successful infiltration in yesterday, the four thieves decided to do some preparation first. Ren is handling all the upgrades of their gear and medicine while Ryuji is handling the calling card. Meanwhile, Akira and Shiho were waiting for the calling card to be sent.

Seeing that the Phantom Thieves won't send the calling card in these few days, Akira decided to back to his part-time job at Untouchable.

"Kid, you do have a passion for guns," Iwai smiled, reading the newspaper in his hand. "Having you to work here is the best choice I've ever had."

"Thanks, Iwai-san." Akira replied with an equally bright smile on his face, checking the model gun's functionality. "Even Shiho called me a 'Gun Nerd' sometimes."

"Shiho... Sounds like a name for a good girl." The shop owner said, putting another lollipop into his mouth. "She's the one you have a crush on?"

"Huh?!" The younger boy exclaimed, almost dropping the gun in his hand. "Well... Yes."

"Hoo boy." Iwai whistled, looking away from him intentionally. "Man...It's giving me nostalgia."

"Can we just drop this topic? It's too-" Akira's request was interrupted when the doorbell rang, signaling the arrival of another customer. "Welcome to Untouchable, what do you need-"

"Ichijou?! Why are you here?!" Akira's introductory remark was interrupted again as the screaming of Ryuji suddenly rang through the whole shop.

Akira took a few long seconds before finally realized who was the customers. It's the Phantom Thieves.

"Ryuji! Can't you just be quiet for just a moment?" Ann hissed and quickly smacked the back of his head, then apologized to Iwai. "Sorry sir, we disturbed your business."

"It's OK." Iwai said monotonously, putting the newspaper over his face, "I'll leave the things to you, kid."

"O-OK, boss." Akira shuttered and coughed for a bit, quickly switching into his professional side.

"Well, what do you want?" he asked with a professional tone, earning a look of disbelief from the thieves.

Ren's eyes darted around the different guns showcased on the wall and said, "Uh... Akira, do you have any recommendations?"

"Any recommendations from me, huh?" The dealer stretched and leaned closer to them. "Well, which type of guns do you want? You just need to give me some adjectives."

"Adjective..." Ren thought for a moment before answering. "I need something light-weight, robust."

"Light-weight, robust..." Akira murmured in deep thought, raising an eyebrow. "Well, I got something for you."

He crouched to the pistol's category and chose a model gun which designed like a black Desert Eagle, spinning the gun in his head a few times before putting on the counter. "Well, even though this pistol isn't the most lightweight in the world. However, the firepower of this beauty is one of the best in the world. Using a magnum round instead of normal round, this gun's firepower can stop everything in the sight of this gun."

Ren took the gun from the counter and tested the iron sight. After a few tries, he nodded with a smile and put the gun back on the counter. "I'll take this. This seems a good fit for me."

Seeing the professional remark and description from Akira, Ryuji excitingly rushed to the counter and suggested with a grin. "I want somethin' that would go out with a bang!"

"Go out with a bang..." Akira turned around and took a shotgun designed to replicate an AA-12 shotgun. "I don't really need any description beside... Fully automatic shotgun, this would certainly fulfill your need."

Then, he took another shotgun from the wall and put it to the counter. This time a pump-action shotgun designed like a SPAS-12 shotgun. "However, if you like the sound or feeling of pumping the gun itself. This shotgun's firepower is basically the same as the other one. Well... it depends on you, Sakamoto."

"Depends on me..." Ryuji examined the two shotguns, tried to have a feel for it before choosing the pump-action shotgun. "My choice is this one!"

"Suit you, Sakamoto." Akira then turned his attention to Ann and asked. "So, how about you, Ann?"

"Um..." Ann was deep in thought for a short moment before answering him with a wide grin. "I want something that would be fast, and wide!"

"Fast... and wide..." The shop employee visibly sweatdropped at the girl's answer, but then turned around and took a model submachine gun which designed to be a replica of a Thompson M1928 machinegun. "Maybe...this would suit you."

"Hmm..." Ann took the SMG and put it next to her hips, making 'Pew Pew' sound in her mouth while playing with it. "I'll take this! Your choices are the best, Akira!"

"Sometimes." Akira smirked from her answer before checking the prices of those guns on the counter. "So... It's 9980 yen in total."

Ren took out 10000 yen from his wallet and handed it over to him. After paying for those model guns and saying farewell to them. Akira instantly slumped onto the ground, only holding himself up by the counter.

"Kid, you've done great." Iwai said, putting down the newspaper. "You do have the talent of choosing things for others."

"I know, Iwai-san." Akira forced himself to get back up before taking his revolver out. "Um... Can I use the workshop? Iwa-"

The younger boy's word was interrupted as Iwai nodded and pointed to his back. "Of course you can, just don't mess anything up."

"Thank you!" Akira quickly dashed into the workshop and started to customizing his revolver. Replacing the iron sight with a one with white lining, making aiming with it in the dark much easier. Then a heavier barrel to handle more powerful bullet, replacing it with a reinforced cylinder in addition. A modified grip to make it handle a bit better.

"Let's hope that this thing would help me to fight that bastard..."

* * *

[21st April, Shujin's hallway, Morning]

The calling card was sent. The notice board at the entrance hall was plastered with multiple copies of the calling card itself, covering almost everything on the board itself.

"So this is what they meant..." Akira took a copy of the calling card and read it out loud. "_'Sir Kamoshida Suguru, the utter bastard of lust. We know how shitty you are, and that you put your twisted desires on students that can't fight back. That's why we have decided to steal away those desires and make you confess your sins. This will be done tomorrow, so we hope you will be ready. From, the Phantom Thieves of Hearts...'_"

"Um..." Shiho, who was by his side frowned from the word of the calling card. "Well, definitely Sakamoto's word."

"My thought exactly." Akira sighed and put the calling into his school bag. "Well, rooftop after school?"

"OK..." Shiho trailed off, feeling nervous as this the end. "With our help, they would be able to steal the treasure with no problems."

Akira nodded and walked toward the classroom when Kamoshida walked up to the notice board, shouting furiously. "Who's responsible for this..?!"

"Got him." Shiho smirked slightly but quickly reformed to the usual somber look afterward.

Meanwhile, the four thieves were watching Kamoshida's reaction from aside. Knowing that their plan had worked.

"I think it's hittin' him pretty hard." Ryuji grinned at Kamoshida's reaction. Finally able to revenge at him for once.

"Yeah." Ren also smirked, observing his reaction with a sense of joy.

Kamoshida, now furious, turned sharply at a nearby student. "Did you do this?! Or was it you?!" He yelled, turning to another student.

Turning around, he spotted Akira and Shiho and walked up to them. "Was it you, Ichijou?" He gritted, staring right at his eyes.

"Me? Please don't make me laugh." Akira replied in a mocking tone, enjoying his reaction, "Why would I be sooo secret about my hatred to you and claimed that I am some kind of 'Phantom Thief of Heart'?"

"Your word would have consequences, Ichijou." Knowing that he can't fight him now as people are watching, he gritted in a low tone. "You'll be gone by the time I found out who's behind this!"

"Same goes for you." Akira plainly stated before turning to Shiho and walked away without another word, leaving him alone.

But as the duo reached the staircase to the upper floor, they felt that the atmosphere was changed. "Wha-"

Shiho's question was interrupted as the voice of Kamoshida, or his shadow suddenly rang out to every Persona users. "Come...Steal it, if you can!" The King yelled, grinning. The Shadow turned back to the real Kamoshida a brief moment later, who pivoted and walked away.

* * *

[After school, Kamoshida's palace]

After the calling card was sent, the whole castle was on high alert, the usual purple sky was replaced with dark red, the twisted moon seemed to be even larger than before. The sound of soldiers running filled the whole castle, even can be heard from miles away.

"Holy..." Jester looked at the threatening look of the palace, the knot in his stomach ached. "...Let's go, Swan."

Swan only nodded in silence, and the two entered the castle and went straight to the main tower. They are a bit late to infiltrate the castle, coming after the Phantom Thieves had already entered the castle, or even had already taken the Treasure.

Since the whole castle was on high alert, the duo found themselves in a hard time to sneak through those soldiers. But after many many close calls, they reached the King's Hall.

And what they saw was not what they expected.

The Phantom Thieves were in a battle with a giant demon. The demon had four arms, holding onto a wine glass, a knife, a crop whip, and a fork. The size of this monstrosity was HUGE, about the size of the whole hall. His purple tongue hung out like a dog, with saliva dripping all over the floor. However, the most disgusting part of this monster is that... It's Kamoshida.

"So this is the shadow of Kamosida..." Jester and Swan quickly grappled themselves to the balcony of the hall, assisting them with Magic attack.

Joker quickly noticed the addition of Bless skills and the greater Wind attack and shouted to his teammates. "We got help!"

"I can see that." Mona replied with the same volume as Joker and turned to the balcony above. "Jester, Swan! We really need your help!"

Instead of the usual silence, Jester exclaimed back. "I know! We're trying to defeat this monstrosity too!"

"But his health is just too much!" Swan finished the sentences for him, summoning Jeanne while talking. "Fly High! Giant Slice!"

The crystal Persona materialized in the air and slashed the demon right in the center, but it still standing. The giant shadow whipped and command the four small slaves to fire a volleyball barrage to the balcony. But since the duo was running in the shadow, the volleyballs only hit the wall of the hall. Leaving a huge hole behind.

"Let's do this!" Jester summoned Moriarty and grappled himself across the hall, landing on the other side. "Moriarty! Revolver Shot!"

The Blue Persona fired his revolver again and again, emptied the bullets of his revolver. "Dammit!" Jester cursed and shouted back to the Phantom Thieves on the ground.

"Your turn now!"

"My turn... OK!" Joker summoned Obariyon and pointed at the demon. "Snap!"

A large bullet hit Kamoshida. It hit it right in the head and sent him crashing with the stairs behind rubble and dust covered some bit of the demon.

"Captain Kidd! Zio!" Skull's pirate cast a bolt of lightning to it, but not very useful.

"Zorro! Garu!"

"Carmen! Agi!"

The wind skill and the fire skill of Mona and Panther combined, creating a fire tornado and strike him. Injuring it further.

After a barrage of attacks from all thieves, Kamoshida started to a look of injured. But it quickly took a pair of female legs from the cup in and devoured it, his injuries start to disappear as green sparks surrounded it.

"He healed himself...?" Mona whispered, observing the cup in front of it. "Is it because he ate those insides there..?"

Kamoshida raised his whip again and the salves spiked another barrage of volleyball at them, specifically Skull this time. The barrage of volleyball hit him and was hardly fazed. Then another barrage was sent and hit Panther this time, knocking her back a few steps.

"We need to attack the cup!" Joker shouted as he dashed towards the cup and slashed it for a few times, then fired a few shots towards it while dodging the other barrage of volleyball.

"Hey!" Kamoshida yelled as he noticed the target of their attacks were now on the cup. Moving its arms to protect it. "You don't know what this is worth, so stop touching it! Don't do it again anymore, got it? I've warned you!"

"But we're not those type of people that would take these warning seriously!" Swan summoned Jeanne again in the air while shooting it with her sniper rifle. "Kouga!"

An arrow of light appeared on the top of the cup and presented it with the bullet, almost destroying it. Then without another word, Jester jumped down from the balcony and slashed the cup with his scythe in incredible speed, before firing a final shot by his magnum revolver. Breaking it into nothing.

"Joker, I'll leave the Hold Up to you!" Jester exclaimed before firing his grappling hook and pulled himself back to the balcony.

"Ack!" The shadow visibly slumped down from the face that his cup was destroyed. "No way...This was from when I won the national..."

The thieves rushed to him and surrounded him with their guns, Jester and Swan also pointing theirs to it in the balcony.

"You think you can get away with doing such a thing? Do you realize who I am?!" Kamoshida yelled, sending everyone an intense glare with his disgusting large eyeballs. "...I am Kamoshida! Don't you get it?!"

Joker spun his pistol before pointing at it again. "So what?" He asked mockingly.

"Like I keep saying!" The Distorted King retorted back. "I am Kamoshida! I'm the king!"

"You look down on everyone...but you're seriously lame right now." Skull said, pumping his shotgun for another shot.

"We came all this way to steal that!" Panther pointed the crown on its head with her Tompson. "Will you just give it up and hand it over?!"

"Silence!" The monster shouted, pulling the items in its hand closer to itself. "I won't let the likes of you have this!"

"You still have the energy to say things like that?!" Mona yelled, turning his head to Joker, "It looks like that we need to up our games as well!"

Joker nodded and commanded his teammates. "Everyone! All-Out Attack!"

The four thieves did a short leap backward before launching themselves into the air. Using walls, pillars and other things as their stepping point, They strike from every direction possible. Black blood and blood mark covering the monstrosity as time went on.

Staggering back, the Distorted King stared st the thieves, rage filled his heart and his eyes. "I'm the king..! If I'm not, then who is?!"

"It seems like we need to be smart about this..." Mona suggested to Joker. "Maybe we need to aim for the crown."

"I know." The leader of the Phantom Thieves glanced at the crown for a moment before whispering to Skull.

"Skull, I need you to get up there and told Jester that we need to take the crown."

Seeing a nod of confirmation from Skull, Joker executed his plan B. "Everyone! Fire everything you got to Kamoshida!"

Panther and Mona cast the same fire tornado trick like before towards Kamoshida, covering Skull's climbing in the process. The injured monstrosity Swirled his other cup in one of his hands and drank the wine in it, letting the fake girl hit his tongue. He violated the dolls with the massive tongue before spitting it back to the glass. Energy filled inside of it as he did that.

"Ugh..." Swan cringed as she saw the disgusting act it had done. "Disgustin-"

Swan interrupted as she saw Skull climbed the pilar toward the balcony. She quickly grappled herself to the other side and helped him up.

"Yo." Skull said as Swan helped him back onto the balcony, "We need you guys to take that crown from Kamoshida!"

"Oh, that crown..." Swan switched her attention as Jester approached them. "You heard him, Jester?"

"Yeah." Jester turned to the shadow before turning back to Skull. "Skull, you go back first, we'll handle this."

Skull nodded and jumped down to the hall and rushed to the group, telling Joker that the duo would help them finish this task. Joker turned to the balcony and they gave each other a nod.

"Swan, I'll take the crown." Seeing a nod from her, Jester took a deep breath and started running towards it, attacking it while running to distract it. Once he reached the steps next to the head of Kamoshida, he leaped and kicked the crown from its head with every strength he had. Then he fired the hook behind his back to pull himself back.

Landing smoothly with a back roll. The duo looked at the shadow as he desperately reaching for its crown. "Nooo! My...my precious…!"

"Good!" Mona grinned. "Kamoshida's shaken up!"

Taking theirs only opportunity, Joker shouted again. "Everyone! Fire everything you have!"

"Arsene! Eiha!"

"Captain Kidd! Cleave!"

"Carmen! Agi!"

"Zorro! Garu!"

"Moriarty! Revolver Shot!"

"Jeanne! Kouga!"

A barrage of different elemental and physical attacks struck Kamoshida hard. With a painful cry, the monster crashed onto the ground and changed back to its human form. Skull picked up the now smaller crown. But he Fallen King took the crown and ran to the treasure room in fear. With a yell from Skull, the thieves ran after him.

Swan fired his sniper rifle as he frantically ran and hit the pillar beside him, causing the shadow to stumble back to the balcony.

"Nngh..." Kamoshida stumbled in despair as there's no other escape route in sight. The only way out was a bottomless drop.

"What's wrong? Not running away?" Panther gritted, staring directly at his eyes as she approaches him. "Why don't you run? Aren't you a great athlete?"

"It's always been like this... All those goddamn hyenas forcing their expectations on me...! I'm doing this all for them! What's wrong about demanding a reward for that?!" Shaking in fear, he yelled, clenching at the crown in his hand.

"Now you're makin' excuses...?" Skull said with disgust. "We'll do something about that distorted heart of yours."

"You're a disgusting bastard, that's all I can say about you." Joker stated plainly, reaching for his pistol.

"Hrrgh..." Kamoshidaonly grunted in frustration and fear, not even able to move a bit.

"Scared?" Panther asked with anger. Taking another step to him. "Right now, you're seeing the same view that Shiho did. I'm sure she was scared too...except she had no choice but to jump..."

"If not because of Akira and us, she would be dead already." Panther quietly finished, only a few steps away from the Fallen King. "What will you do? Will you jump? ...Or would you rather die here?"

Her mask disappeared within a blue frame and Carmen appeared behind her. Kamoshida took another step at the sight of Carmen, hugging his crown even closer.

"Do you want to finish him off?" Mona asked, crossing his arms. "It's your call."

"No, please wait! I beg you...Just forgive meee!" Kamoshida begged, sweating heavily from fear.

"Shut up. I bet everyone told you the same. But you…" Panther said, clenching her hand tight. "You took everything from them!" She yelled, firing a fireball at his direction. The fireball narrowly passed him and hit the ground next to him.

"...Ann..." Swan and Jester could only hide and watched the whole event played out, knowing that they shouldn't intervene. Jester held her hand as she tried her best to hold her tears.

"I accept defeat...You want this? Take it." Kamoshida slumped in defeat and threw the crown to them. Joker caught the crown easily and examined it with a plain expression.

"Panther... You'll decide his fate." The leader said with a serious look.

"Go ahead and finish me off..." The king whispered, clenching his eyes with a single tear running down his cheek. "You do that...and my real self will go down too..."

"You have that right since you've won…"

Clenching her hand, Panther fired a large fireball to him. The others were shocked and yelled in surprise. The fireball hit the ground next to the king, only blowing his cape. He looked up slowly with wide-eyes, still in disbelief about how he was still in one piece.

"If his mind shuts down, he can't admit his crimes." Panther stated as she recalled Carmen, the red mask appeared back on her face.

"You're kind, Lady Ann..." Mona trailed off, smirking.

Kamoshida looked down to the ground. "I've lost. You're through when you lose... What am I- What am I supposed to do now..?" He said hesitantly.

"Atone for your sin." Joker decided to step forward and plainly stated. "Too many people with a dream was crushed by you. Death is not your option here."

After a brief moment, the king nodded. "All right... I will leave now and return to my real self..." a white aura surrounded him, and he disappeared with a flash.

Once the shadow was gone, the four thieves sighed unanimously in relief. And the duo in shadow smiled from the scene. Their work is done. However, their peace was cut short when the castle started to rumble

"What the-" Jester interrupted himself as he recalled about what would happen when the shadow was defeated and turned to Swan. "We need to go, FAST!"

Before Swan can even response, Jester took her hand and fired his grappling hook to the hallway. The duo ran as fast as they could as the wall and floor around them start to crumble.

As they're running for their lives, the duo heard the yelling from Ann far behind them. "We're gonna die! We're so gonna die!"

"Akira! My legs start to give up on me!" Shiho, now had lifted her mask on her forehead shouted to the one next to her. "Help!"

"I'm here!" With a sigh, Akira quickly picked her up in a bridal style and proceed to run towards the only white light in front of them.

* * *

[Real world, the front gate of the school]

Once the duo has escaped the crumbling castle. Akira unironically tripped himself with his other foot, sending him and Shiho rolling on the ground a few times before they finally stopped.

"Ugh..." With a grunt, Akira felt that his hand was holding something soft. He opened his eyes and found that... He's lying on top of Shiho, with his hand unconsciously rested on her breast. "Uh... Sorr-"

"..." Shiho opened her eyes and figured the situation they're in. Blushing madly, she shoved him off with a push. "Prevert!"

"I'm sorry! It's just an accident!" Akira apologized with a madly redden face, unknowingly gaining the attention of the only person at the front gate right now.

"Um... You two OK?" The duo snapped their attention to the source of the voice in an instant. It was a third-year girl with chin-length curly light auburn hair and wearing a pink turtleneck cardigan over her normal uniform.

"O-Okumura Senpai! We're sorry!" Shiho quickly recognized the girl in front of them and apologized in a flash. "Just forget about us!"

Before Okumura can respond, Shiho quickly took Akira's hand and ran off to another direction.

Meanwhile, the other group were back in the alley. Panting in exhaustion, Ann commented, "This sucked..."

"Yeah, one hundred percent." Ren nodded in agreement, still trying to catch his breath.

Then Ryuji suddenly shouted, gaining the attention from the other two. "Look at the Nav!"

_**"The destination has been deleted."**_ The nav rang with a robotic voice, and the destination was deleted.

"...It's true. We can't go there anymore." Ann whispered, staring at the phone screen in disbelief.

"What about the Treasure?!" Morgana yelled in anticipation, jumping up and down.

"..." Ren took the Treasure out from his pocket and showed it to the group. "Well..."

It's an Olympic gold medal, not the crown in they were anticipating.

"...A medal? Wait, where'd that crown go?" Ann asked, raising an eyebrow.

"What's going on...?" Ryuji questioned, also raising an eyebrow.

"It means, that was the source of Kamoshida's desires." Morgana examined the medal for a moment before explained to the others. "To him, this medal is worth as much as that crown we saw in the Palace."

"An Olympic medal..." Ryuji took a step closer and observed the medal before widening his eyes in realization. "So that perv kept clingin' to his past glory and couldn't let it go…"

The thieves looked at each other briefly before sighing in unison. "This means that Kamoshida's heart might have changed, right?" Ann asked.

"Probably." Morgana only shrugged,

"...Our expulsion's on the line here... Morgana." Ren sighed and facepalmed himself.

"This is the first successful example for me too." The feline retorted weakly. "However, there's no doubt that this has affected Kamoshida's personality quite a lot. The entire Palace disappeared, after all."

"Ugh, I feel all antsy! Ain't there a way to check now?" Ryuji said, rubbing his head in frustration.

"Let's hope this work..." Ren sighed before noticing somethings wrong. "Um... Guys, where are Jester and Swan?"

"Jester and Swan?" Ryuji rubbed his chin before answering. "I didn't see them coming out."

"Maybe they ended up in another spot." Morgana said, "They're going to be alright."

"I hope so..." Ren sighed again from their responses.

Even though the whole thing ended in an uncertain note for the four thieves and an awkward not for the other duo. But after all... the mission was a success.

Kamoshida's rule in Shujin Academy, was no more.

* * *

And with that, chapter seven and the Kamoshida's arc of P5: Another Thief concludes! thank you for reading!

Next Chapter:

After the successful attempt of stealing Kamoshida's heart. Ren, Ryuji, Mishima and Akira's future was still uncertain. But since that they can't anything more, they wait for the result, and the board meeting to come.

Will the heart of Kamoshida be changed?

I hope you would enjoy this story so far, reviews are welcome!


	8. Chapter 8: Confession of Sin

[22nd April]

It has been a full day since the battle and the collapse of Kamoshida's palace. The Phantom Thieves had no choice but to just wait for the board meeting in about ten days. They're nervous about it, but what can they do?

With nothing else to do, Akira arrived at the library of the school. "Uh..." He sighed as all sight wat put on him once he entered the library.

_"Why is he here?"_

_"He's just trying to play nice."_

_"Stay away from him, you know what he'd done to Kimiko-chan..."_

"..." Knowing that everyone would just stay away from him, Akira took a few books from the shelf in silence and sat aside to read it.

"So these are the story with Moriarty in it..." He examined the book in his hand and sat down at one of the round tables, only to be accompanied by another student with brown hair in a bob cut with blunt bangs and a French-braid styled headband.

'It's Nijima-Senpai...' Akira glanced up from his book occasionally, interested at what's she studying about. 'Well, It' the final year of high school for her anyway...'

"Why are you looking at me, Ichijou?" His thought was interrupted as Nijima suddenly spoke up to him, gaining a confused from him.

"Huh?" It took Akira a few long seconds before finally realize that he's been staring at her the whole time. "Oh, sorry. I'm just interested in what you're studying..." He quickly apologized, rubbing the back of his head in embarrassment.

"It's my own business."NIjima replied, still focusing on her paperwork on the table.

"OK..." Akira trailed off, putting his attention back to the books in his hand. The duo then proceeded to focus on their own business, with other students whispering in the meantime.

_"This time targetting on Nijima-Senpai..."_

_"Disgusting..."_

_"Now Mr. Kamoshida has taken a few days off... We need to be more careful around him..."_

"..." Akira quietly snickered from those whispers, trying his best to hold back his emotion. "Just wait till the board meeting, and everything will be fine..."

Makoto heard those murmur from him and looked up from her works. He was clenching his books so hard, almost leaving marks on it.

"The book would break if you keep doing that." She plainly commented, causing Akira to look at her again.

"What do you mea-" He interrupted himself as he looked down to his books and saw the mark he left. He hastily flattened out those marks and took out his notebook, jotting down points about Moriarty.

'A sociopath in disguise... Using his intelligence for his benefit, his own "Justice" in a sense... Self-Center, Napolean of crime...' Akira frowned at the word on his notebook, still can't wrap his head around the fact that his Persona is 'Moriarty' out of anything. 'He's nothing but a villain, a villain of Sherlock Holmes' story...'

'But at the same time, a hero in his own story.' He stopped his pen as he realized the similarities between him and Moriarty. 'Just like me... A hero, in our own story. Kamoshida painted me as a villain, but I still am a hero in my own way...'

'Maybe this is what it meant.' He finished, closing his notebook. "But that's too stretch out in my opinion..."

The teen checked his phone and found that it's already almost seven. "I've been here for this long?!" He exclaimed, quickly packed his things up and left the library in an instant.

Ignoring everything in the way, Akira quickly rushed to the train station and was lucky enough to evade the rush hour. After a few minutes of being squeezed inside the subway, he was back in Yongen-Jaya.

"I'm back..." He sighed in exhaustion as he entered his apartment, instantly slumped into the couch. But as his stomach groaned in emptiness, he was forced to get up and get some food for himself.

"Leblanc should be closed by now..." The boy looked at the clock and sighed, walking into the kitchen and made himself some instant noodles to eat.

Will Kamoshida's change of heart work? Will he be able to stay in Shujin? These two questions lingered on his mind for the whole day, and the disappearance of Kamoshida only made it worse. But as days pass, the doubt of his mind was gradually getting larger.

[23rd April, courtyard.]

Akira was sitting alone at the bench of the courtyard, eating his bento when Ren suddenly came up to him. He put the bento aside and greeted back with a small smile.

"Hey, Akira." Ren sat next to him and put his bag on his lap, letting Morgana poke his head out.

"A cat in your bag?" Akira noticed Morgana and asked with a raised eyebrow. "So that's why I heard those meowing during class."

"Yeah..." Ren gently patted the cat's head, earning an annoyed look from it. "He's very annoying sometimes."

"I know." The other boy laughed for a bit at his word, but then sighed again. "I heard that you're also going to be expelled because of Kamoshida, right?"

"Maybe, but he had taken a few days off." Ren answered, looking at the other side of the courtyard. "Let's hope that he got a change of heart. According to the 'Phantom Thief'."

"Oh, yeah... about the 'Phantom Thief'." Akira stretched and replied. "They remind me of Mitsuru-san's group...hmm..." He whispered to himself, but loud enough to be heard by Ren.

"Mitsuru? She's your parent?"

"Nah, She's just my distant relative and my legal guardian." Akira answered, shaking his head. "As for my parents... They're gone."

"Oh... I'm sorry to hear that." Ren was shocked by the answer from him and quickly apologized. "It's must be hard to live through that."

"It's OK." Akira shook his head again. "It's been seven years, after all..."

"How about you? I'm curious about your assault case." He turned to Ren with a curious look, taking out his notebook. "I can't see you as a person who had assaulted someone before."

After a moment of consideration, Ren decided to tell him the truth of his case. "Well... I saved a woman from an assaulter, I only pushed him away and he fell to the fences on aside." He winced from those memories about his case. "I don't know how, but he was able to make the police to stay on his side. Even that woman had lied to frame as the assaulter. And the rest is history."

"...Damn, that's..." Akira can't help but feel sorry about him, he wrote down the word he said and closed his book. "I'll call Mitsuru-san to look into your case, maybe she can help you about it."

"She can help me?"

"Of course." he nodded with confidence, smirking. "She's the head of Kirijo group after all."

"Wait, what?" Ren was dumbfounded from his answer, staring at him with a look of disbelief. "The head of Kirijo Group?!"

"Oh yeah. She's the one and only Mitsuru Kirijo." Akira plainly stated, rubbing his head in frustration as he remembered something important afterward. "But she told me that she's going to Hawaii to deal with some stuff a while ago, so..."

"I'm sorry about that."

"It's OK." Ren said, "I've accepted this fact."

Then, a question popped up in his mind. "Um, Akira." He suddenly changed his tone to a questioning one. "If you're tied with Kirijo Group, why they can't just kick Kamoshida out of Shujin by exposing him to the public?"

"Oh, about that." Akira touched his cheek and thought for a moment to answer. "Well, since every adult knows what's going on, protecting him and the students were too scared to speak out or didn't know at all... Mitsuru-san couldn't find someone with a good reputation to expose him. Especially after his false claim about my 'sex assault' and those fights with him, my already damaged reputation sank to the bottom of the ocean and anything from them would just hurt me even more."

"If not for Ann and Shiho, I would be studying in Gekkoukan right now."

"...That must be hard for you." Ren said with a sympathetic tone, looking down toward Morgana

"...Let's change our topic." Seeing the somber tone between them, Akira quickly decided to changed his subject. "Um... You and Ann had been close recently... Are you two dating?"

"Huh? No, of course." The boy with fuzzy hair replied plainly, a dumbfounded look on his face. "We're just friends."

"Of course! Lady Ann is only our friends!" Morgana added but interrupted as Ren quickly pressed his head, making him squeaked. "Ren! Stop this!"

The boy didn't answer, pretending that he didn't hear what the cat said.

"Well, you look honest about this." Akira replied with a look of disappointment for his answer, also pretending that he didn't hear Morgana's complain. "If that's so, then what type are you into?" He then quickly followed up with another question, an look of interest on his face.

"What type?" Ren was deep in his thought for a moment before answering, this time with a hesitant tone. "Ugh...I don't know, maybe someone who is smart, caring, a bit funny and cute."

Akira thought of his response for a moment before looking back toward Ren with a grin on his face. "Well, Ann did fit a number of these requirements. Except for the smart department."

"She may look like those smart blonde from movie and stuff, but she never passed anything other than English." He quickly explained, not seeing the look of fear from Ren and the cat. "I remember every time that an exam or a test is around the corner, she'd just begged me or Shiho for help on her study. However, no matter what we taught her, her result is still poor for some unknown reaso-" The boy with headphones interrupted himself mid-sentence as he noticed those look of fear from the duo.

"What's going on-" It only took Akira a few milliseconds to realize what caused the look of fear from their faces and sighed. "Ann is right behind me, right?"

"You're right!" The cheerful sound of Ann quickly answered, "Akira, don't you know that talking behind someone's back is an awful thing to do?"

"O-Of course." He replied, slowly turning his head to face the smiling blonde. "But this is fact, you're bad at everything aside of English-"

Ann's eyebrow twitched as she leaned closer to him, still holding her smile. "Ohhh, it would such a shame if your little crush to Shiho was exposed~"

"...How would you know!" Akira's face visibly paled at Ann's word, cold sweat falling down his cheek. "I-I'm sorry Ann! Please don't tell her about that!"

"Hmm... Maybe." Ann said with an evil smirk on her face, still not satisfied with Akira's response. "Oh, hey Shiho!"

"!" The boy instantly looked up and over the benches, only to be greeted by no one.

"Haha! You fell for it!" Ann can't help but laughing out loud at Akira's action, making him looked down in defeat.

"I really hate you..." He murmured to himself, mentally facepalmed for his stupidity.

Meanwhile, Ren and Morgana sweatdropped as the event unfolding in front of their eyes.

"Note to self, don't piss Ann/Lady Ann off." The duo said in unison.

[nine days later]

The 2nd of May, the day of Kamoshida confessing his crime... or the day of the three outcasts to be expelled. Ren met Akira during their train ride and noticed the dark circles under his eyes.

"Hey, didn't sleep well?" He asked with a look of sympathy.

"Yeah... Let's hope that Kamoshida wouldn't kick us out." Akira replied while nodding, still half asleep. "Actually, I'm more worry about Shiho."

"Fear that she had to hear the news of you leaving, right?" The boy with fuzzy hair said, pinching his nosebridge to keep him awake as well. "Actually, I didn't sleep well last night too."

"Well, good to have someone to face the worst fate with you." The other boy jokingly said, yawning out from tiredness. "Are we there yet?"

"Maybe."

After what felt like years, the duo arrived at the Aoyama-Itchome and was greeted with Ryuji. His eyes were basically empty at this point, signified that he didn't sleep at all last night.

"Yo..." The blonde boy greeted the duo tiredly. "Didn't sleep well?"

The duo nodded wearily in unison. "Yeah..."

"No more waitin'... Let's go..." Ryuji pointed at the direction to the school and started to walk toward the school, with the other two followed closely.

During their walk to the school, they overhear a conversation between two male students in front of them.

"Mondays are such a drag…" One of the two students yawned, complaining to the other one. "Why couldn't they give us today off, too? We have the rest of the week off starting tomorrow…"

The other one nodded in response. "Yeah, it's ridiculous. Speaking of, what's up with that calling card? The one sent to Kamoshida." HE asked, tilting his head in the process. "Didn't it say something about 'stealing his distorted desires' or something weird like that?"

"Yeah, something about that..." He yawned again, stretching his arms. "I'm sure it's just a prank. No one's taking it seriously."

"Just a prank..." Akira murmured to himself, not able to be heard by the other two. "Let's hope this work..."

[Early Morning]

Instead of the usual class assembly in their classroom, the principal called everyone in the school to the gym for a special morning assembly. Akira was standing behind Ren, hearting pounding as he and the other thieves know what this is about.

_"What's with the sudden morning assembly..?"_ A student in the crowd asked.

_"I bet it's about that girl that almost jumped the other day."_

_"They don't have to tell us not to commit suicide or anything."_

"There was that weird calling card too, so I guess the teachers are freaking out?"

Shiho frowned as she heard those comments from the others. 'they just don't care, aren't they?' She thought, eyes darting around to look for Akira.

Meanwhile, Ann was internally begging for the change of heart to work. 'Please don't expel them... Please don't...'

Then the thieves noticed Principal Kobayakawa getting on the stage, clearing his throat to start the assembly.

"Let's begin this school-wide morning assembly." He spoke to the microphone in front of him, making everyone to be quiet.

Most students didn't care about what Principal Kobayakawa is going to say, they just stand through the whole assembly in boredom or daydreaming. After all, the principal's speech is the most boring thing in existence.

"As you all know, a tragic event almost took place the other day. Thankfully, our brave students were able to save her and she's fine now." Principal Kobayakawa paused, looking out into the audience.

Shiho clenched her hand from anger at his statement, knowing that the stuff about Kamoshida was ignored.

Seeing a large portion of students was listening to him, Principal Kobayakawa continued. "Everyone here has a bright future ahead. I implore that you rethink the importance of life and-"

The door next to the stage slammed open, gaining everyone's attention. The crowd was filled with whispers as they tried to see who interrupted the assembly.

'What the hell?' Akira and Shiho thought in unison, still couldn't believe what they're seeing.

Meanwhile, Ann gasped, staring wide-eyed at the sight of the downtrodden men walking out from the room.

It was Kamoshida.

Or more precise, a shell of who he was two weeks ago. His shoulders were slumped to the that as if the weight of the world was right on top of him. He's thinner from before, mostly from the lack of eating in these two weeks. And his eyes were filled with self-hatred and shame, instead of the usual confidence and arrogance.

"Mr. Kamoshida." Principal Kobayakawa greeted the man hesitantly, looking at him with uncertainty. "What's the-"

"I... Have been reborn." Kamoshida interrupted him mid-sentence, his tone was filled with shame and exhaustion. "That is why I will confess everything to you all…"

The crowd's whisper became chatter as the teacher walked towards the stage, with each step feeling like the walking in mud.

_"What's going on with Mr. Kamoshida?"_

"...Huh?" Ann breathed, looking at him wide-eyed.

"Could this be..." Shiho whispered. Also looking at him with a look of disbelief.

"I have repeatedly done things that were... unbecoming of a teacher." Kamoshida started, clutching his hand out of anger toward himself. "Verbally abusing students...physically abusing my team, and… Sexually harassing female students."

"I am the reason why Suzui Shiho tried to kill herself!" He fell to his knees, sobbing uncontrollably as the weight of his sins crushed him, "I even shifted those blames to Akira Ichijou, who was trying to protect them from me!"

_"Sexual harassment...?"_

_"What?!"_

_"He is the worst!"_

_"So Ichijou was the hero after all..."_

_"He was trying to protecting everyone!"_

_"That's why he fought with him before..."_

"I thought of this school as my own castle...There were even students that I sentenced to expulsion, simply because I didn't like them..." Kamoshida looked up from the ground, eyes blurry from the tears. "I will, of course, rescind those…"

Principal Kobayakawa looked at the man in shock, rapidly darting between the crowd and Kamoshida.

"I am truly sorry for putting innocent youths through such horrible acts..." The teacher clenched his knees in anguish. "I am an arrogant, shallow...and shameful person. No, I'm worse than that…"

"I will take responsibility and kill myself for it...!"

The crowd burst into chatter again, this time louder as comment and complaint overtake the small whisper to each other. Principal Kobayakawa rushed to his side and pleaded, "Mr. Kamoshida! Please get off the stage for now!"

Other teachers began to approach the crowd and forced them to go. "Everyone, return to your class!" A teacher yelled.

"I-" Kamoshida's sobbing was interrupted as the trio of Akira, Shiho and Ann screamed in anger.

"Don't run, you bastard!"

"Those people were destroyed by you!" Akira shouted, clenching his hand. "I won't let you take an easy way out!"

"I'm still here, not running away!" Shiho added, equally angry. "Then why do you have the right?!"

"You have to pay for your sin!" Ann finished, staring at the man. "Death won't be able to you!"

Trembling, he nodded. "You're right...You're absolutely right...I should be punished under the law and atone for my crimes..."

"I did horrible things to Takamaki-san, as well." He admitted while straightening up. "In return for giving Suzui-san a position on the team... I tried to force her into having relations."

"As of today, I will resign from my position as an instructor and turn myself in." The teacher finished, looking around frantically. "Someone, please call the police!"

The students and teachers stood around, unsure of what to do. Seeing no one was going to do anything, Akira took out his phone and called the police.

"Wow..." Ryuji murmured.

"It worked..." Ren followed.

"This morning's assembly is over! Return to your classes immediately!" A teacher yelled out, walking past the two.

The duo turned their attention toward the others, hearing their words.

_"Isn't this just like what that calling card said..?" _

_"Does this mean the Phantom Thieves thing was for real?!"_

_"Was something done to Kamoshida?!"_

_"C'mon, there's no way you could steal someone's heart!"_

_"But why else would he start saying things like he'll kill himself or turn himself in?"_

_"Maybe because it almost got leaked? Don't they go easier on you if you turn yourself in?"_

_"I wonder what happened…"_

_"Who knows? But man, Kamoshida turned out to be one sick bastard."_

Ren smiled slightly, it's over... finally.

"Return to your classrooms at once!" The teacher who passed the two shouted.

Slowly, the students were ushered out of the gym, along with most of the staff. And the police quickly came in, cuffing kamoshida and took him to the car.

* * *

After most students walked out of the gym, the three Persona users glanced at the stage, still in disbelief of what happened.

"His heart really did change..." Ann whispered, sighing in relief.

"Seems like it," Ryuji commented hesitantly and looked toward Ren. "But, was this really for the best?"

Ren nodded. "I think so..."

"Things're happenin' way too fast..." The blonde boy bit his lips, still in disbelief.

The trio heard a few pairs of footsteps behind them and turned around, it's Mishima and another two female students. Mishima walked up and bowed toward Ann. "Takamaki-san...I'm sorry!"

"Huh..?"

"We all knew...but we pretended we didn't," Mishima said, straightening up from his bow.

Then one of the female students walked up and apologized too. "Takamaki-san, I had you all wrong… "I'm sorry that I spread rumors about you!"

"The other students also walked up to Ann and bowed. "I didn't know at all… Kamoshida was forcefully pushing himself on you...It must've been so hard for you..!"

"I'm sure there's a ton of people who want to apologize to you." She added, biting her lip. "We're so sorry..!"

After a brief moment of pause, Ann shook her head and smiled, "No, it's OK. The same goes for me too…Besides, that's all in the past now."

"Thanks."

Before the trio who were apologizing can answer, a teacher passing by shouted. "Hey, you there! Return to class at once!"

Obeying the command of the teacher, the two female students bowed and walking back to their class. But Mishima stayed and whispered again to them. "I can't apologize enough for what I did to you."

After a moment of pause, he looked at them with a determined look. "...I swear I'll make it up to you someday."

With that said, Mishima also walked back to his class. Leaving the trio of Persona user with a confused look.

* * *

[After school, Front gate.]

After about fifty people apologized to him about his false charge of sexual assault and damaged his reputation, Akira left the school with a sigh with both exhaustion and relief. Kamoshida was gone and everyone is safe now.

But his thought was interrupted as the music coming from his headphones was paused by the notification sound of someone texting him. He pulled out his phone and checked who's messaging him.

It was Ann.

**Ann: Hey! You're free on the 5th?**

**Akira: Yeah, I didn't have any plan for the golden week.**

**Ann: If that's so, we will have a buffet at the Wilton Hotel!**

**Ann: Me, Ren and Ryuji will be there!**

**Akira: Huh? What about Shiho?**

**Akira: She dreamt to have a buffet there for decades now.**

**Ann: I'll let you send the invitation~**

**Ann: Winky face~**

**Akira: What?!**

**Akira: NO! You ask her!**

**Akira: It'll look like I ask her to date!**

**Ann: That's the best part!**

**Ann: Good luck~**

And with that, Ann was gone. leaving Akira alone in the front gate with a look of terror. "No no no no no! I can't do that!"

"What should I do? What should I do? What should I do..." He whispered to himself. He's walking back and forth, trying to figure out what to do. "This is bad-"

"Akira? What are you doing?"

His thought was interrupted as the voice of Shiho suddenly rang out behind him, making him jumped and screamed from the bottom of his lung. "AHHHHH! JESUS CHRIST!"

"Ah!" Shiho also jumped from Akira's screaming, covering her ears in the process. "You scared me!"

"S-Sorry Shiho..." He trailed off, awkwardly nodding to other students to apologize as well. "It's just that I had something on my mind."

"Something on your mind?" Shiho tilted her head and walked closer to Akira. "You can tell me."

"Ugh..." After thirty seconds of struggling in his mind, he decided to do what Ann said and asked her. "It's that... You're free on the 5th, right?"

"5th? I'm free." Shiho answered with a nod, an interested look on her face.

"OK..." He trailed off, blushing madly for no reason at all. On top of that, the murmur from the students besides only added oil to the fire.

_"Ichijou-San was blushing?!"_

_"He's going to ask Suzui-San for a date!"_

_"This quick?!"_

_"No! They've been friends for years by now, it's going to happen after all."_

_"But Ichijou is so cute while blushing..."_

"This is no good..." Akira whispered to himself, finally decided to ask her at the end. "Um... Shiho, we're going to have a buffet at Wilton-"

"Yes! I'll go with you!" His invitation was interrupted again as Shiho nodded again and again, jumping around in excitement. But her excitement quickly disappeared as she remembered about Ann. "But Ann..."

"It's fine." Akira quickly reassured her. "Actually, Ann told me to invite you in the first place... She's having a buffet with Ren and Sakamoto." He explained.

"Oh..." Shiho's face dropped even more from his explanation, making him even more anxious then a moment before. "So not just us then..."

"But whatever." She shrugged at the end. "Let's go home together?"

"Huh?!" Akira was dumbfounded from her words, but nodded at the end. "OK..."

* * *

[Evening, Akira's Apartment]

"This is bad! What should I do?! Shiho is going to friendzone me! This is very bad!" The owner of this apartment complained as he entered the apartment and going to slump onto his couch. However, he stopped as he noticed the light was on for some reason.

"I didn't turn the light on this morning..." Akira walked around and looked around. "Mitsuru-San didn't tell me that someone is coming..."

"Yep, she didn't tell you. It's the golden week after all." A voice suddenly rang out behind him, causing him to jump. "However, I'm also worried about you."

"It's been a while since too! Akira Nee-San!" Then another voice of a young girl rang out, making him even more shocked.

"It can't be..." He recognized the voice behind him and turned around to the source of those voices.

"Yu-San?! Nanako-Chan?!"

* * *

And with that, chapter eight of P5: Another Thief concludes! thank you for reading!

So...a little cameo from Persona 4;), Yu and Nanako would stay with Akira for the whole golden week, but they're a little cameo and won't stay for long. So the story would be not that far fetched from the canon.

Um... the golden week would be the next chapter's focus!

I hope you would enjoy this story so far, reviews are welcome!


	9. Chapter 9: Unusual Golden Week

"Yu-San?! Na-Nanako-Chan?!"

It was a silver-haired man in his early twenties. He's wearing a short-sleeved white collared shirt and brown pants. And next to him was a juvenile girl in primary school, she has brown hair and was wearing a red sleeveless dress.

Akira visited Inaba back in the summer of 2012. After the whole event of Midnight Stage, Misturu and the Shadow Operative went there and investigate the incident. And Akira just... begged Mitsuru to go with her and stayed at the Dojima resident during those few weeks.

Regardless, it's been four years since he met anyone from Inaba, other than hearing some news from Rise or Naoto.

"Um... so why are you're here?" After a few moments of thought, Akira asked while tilting his head."I know Inaba is just half an hour away from Tokyo..."

"Well, it's the golden week after all." Yu answered, sitting down on the couch. "And Nanako wants to come to Tokyo for a few days. "

"Yeah! Nanako wants to come here!" The little girl rushed to Akira and hugged him close, shouting with a muffled voice. "I missed you, Akira Nee-San!"

"Yeah, me too." The boy answered, caressing her head in the process. "You've grown a lot! Ready for middle school?"

"Not yet..."

"I get that." He smiled at Nanako's response, shifting his head to Yu. "Oh! I know somewhere with good curry! How about having our dinner tonight there?"

"Curry? Of course." Yu tilted his head, nodding in agreement.

After a few minutes of walks, the trio had reached the front door of Cafe Leblanc. Yu was observing the decoration of the cafe and Nanako was stroking her groaning stomach.

"I know the owner in here, maybe we can have a price cut for our curry," Akira stated, opening the door of Leblanc. "Let the guest enter first."

With a nod, Yu walked into the cafe while holding on to Nanako's hand. Sojiro saw the duo coming and greeted them like usual. "welcome to Leblanc... Akira?"

"Hey, boss." Akira greeted the owner with a slight smile, closing the door for him. "Let sit over there, shall we?" Seeing another nod from the other two, they sat on by the booth with Nanako in the middle, Yu at the right and Akira at the left.

"Three plates of curry, please." The boy ordered the meal all three of them, "As for drinks... Two coffee and a cup of water please."

"Coming right up." Without another word, Sojiro got to work and prepare their meals, offering the drink they ordered in the process.

"It feels very... retro." Yu looked around and turned to Akira. "It reminds me of Aiya, somehow."

"Maybe it's the comfy feeling in here." The boy answered, "How often will we got a small cafe or restaurant like Leblanc in Tokyo?"

"Actually, it's not that special or rare here." Sojiro suddenly said, placing the plates of curry in front of them. "Here, hope you enjoy."

Without a word, Nanako instantly snatched a bite. "This is delicious!" She exclaimed, taking another bite of the curry.

Yu smiled at Nanako's reaction and started eating his as well. "Wow... It's very good." He commented with wide eyes, before snatching another bite.

"Told ya." Akira could help but smirk at their response. "It's my go-to spot for dinner after all."

"I can see that." The silver-haired man replied, to focus on the taste of his curry. "It's a shame that only Nanako and I were here."

"Maybe you can bring them over in the future."

"Yeah, but I don't know if everyone can be here."

"Oh..." Akira frowned, remembered that Yu's friends are extremely busy on their things lately. "Naoto-San is busy on the mental shutdown case, right?"

Yu nodded in response. "Not only that, she just told me that her workload just increased from Kamoshida's confession and the 'Phantom Thief of Heart' stuff."

"Especially after Goro Akechi's appearance." Yu finished, frowning from the mention of Goro Akechi. "He is... weird and seems to be concealing something."

"Hmm... Maybe."

A silence fell between the three continued as they place their attention back to their meal in hand. Until the ring bell on top of the door rang again, signaling another arrival.

Akira jerked his head toward the door out of curiosity. It was Ren.

"Hey, Ren!" He greeted, waving his hand in the process.

"Hey, Akira." Ren greeted back, looking at the other two with a raised eyebrow. However, he promptly dismissed it and pursued his walk to the stairs to the attic before being stopped by the other boy again.

"Um..." Akira paused for a moment, shifting his head back and forth between his and the other two. "I should introduce you to my friends here."

"Yu-san, Nanako-Chan." He looked at Yu and Nanako, introducing Ren to them. "He is Ren Amamiya, one of my few friends in Shujin."

"Greeting." Ren awkwardly bowed to them, whispering to the other boy. "Why are they here?"

"Nanako-Chan wants to come to Tokyo for the golden week," Akira replied, also whispering. "And how can I resist someone as cute as Nanako-Chan?"

The fuzzy-haired boy glanced at Nanako, who was tilting her head at him with an innocent look and turned to the other boy. "I can see that. She's so cute..."

He coughed for a few times and extended his hand. "Hello, Nanako-Chan."

"Hello, Ren Nee-San!" Nanako took his hand and shook enthusiastically, making Ren's heart pulsed.

'She's too pure for this world!' he thought, spacing out as his brain couldn't handle the cuteness of Nanako. Until Morgana poked out his head and struck him.

"REN! You're spacing out!"

"Huh?!" The boy snapped out from his thought and realized he had been holding her hand for a few good long seconds, quickly sperate his hand from hers and apologize. "Sorry, Nanako-Chan..."

"It is OK, Ren Nee-San." The little girl noticed Morgana on his shoulder and swiftly transported him out of the bag. "Ahh! It's a cute cat!"

"N-No! Let go of me!" The feline resisted, making Yu wide-eyed as he is sure that he heard the cat talked. "I'm not a cat!"

Akira noted Yu's look and shook his head. We'll talk later' he mouthed silently.

"You're so cute, Mr. cat." Nanako said, pinching Morgana's face lightly, "Ren Nee-San, are you taking him to school every day?"

"Y-Yeah..." Ren awkwardly rubbed his neck, looking away from her to prevent dying from cuteness. "He insisted."

"Ren! Help me!" the cat shouted, but his resistance was gradually melting as the girl continued.

Time passes quickly as the peoples in the cafe enjoyed their time there. After Sojiro informed them that the cafe will be closed soon, the three said goodbye to Sojiro and Ren and went back to Akira's apartment.'

After the trio was back to the apartment, Yu quickly took Akira to aside and asked him about the whole stuff about Morgana. "Um...Akira, you heard that cat talking, right?"

"Yeah, it's been like this for a while." Akira nodded, "So, let's be honest."

"Yu-San, you have a Persona or been to another world, right?"

"You also have one... That's a surprise." Yu was visibly shocked at the boy's question, but he quickly regained composure. He nodded and started to explain his history with his journey. "Remember that murder case five years ago back in Inaba?"

"I remember that... Wait! No way!" Akira instantly realized what he meant and staring at him wide-eyed. "That case is linked to Persona another world?!"

"TV World to be precise." The silver-haired man replied. "Everyone you met back in Inaba... also have one as well."

"No way..."

"Um... I want to ask one thing, now that you admitted that you have a Persona of your own." Yu coughed for a bit and asked. "Can you own multiple Persona?"

"Me? No." Akira shook his head, pointing at himself. "But Ren can, I saw him using another Persona during the infiltration of Kamoshida's palace."

"So Ren is a wild card as well..." The older man pondered for a moment before talking again. "Can you tell me about your world? Is it related to the confession of that teacher in your school this morning?"

"About my world... I get there by this app." The boy took out his phone and showed him the navigation app. "It's basically a world in which a person's distorted desire is real."

"Like Kamoshida, he thought the school is his castle." Akira continued to explain, "So the school literally turned into a castle with him as the king."

"It's like those dungeons back in TV World..." Yu nodded at his word and murmured to himself. "OK, what about the 'Phantom Thief' business?"

"I am one... kinda." The boy frowned as he remembered the fact that his situation was complicated, and not a good one. "Ren is the leader of the real Phantom Thief, with his own teammates..."

"But I and Shiho are... another thief who helps them in the shadow?" Akira winced at the statement itself. "I'm not that sure, to be honest."

Yu sighed and looked at the ground for a moment, then turned his head back to Akira. "Let's forget about this and enjoy the golden week, OK?"

"My thought exactly."

* * *

[3rd May, Shibuya Underground Shopping Mall]

After a full night of rest, Akira texted Ann and Shiho to meet up at the Underground Mall. Taking Yu and Nanako as well.

"Akira! Here!" Ann, who was standing with Shiho on her side saw the blue headphone around his neck and shouted, waving her hand to capture his attention.

"Hey, Ann, Shiho!" The boy smiled and waved back, introducing Yu and Nanako to them. "This is Yu-San, and this is Nanako-Chan."

"Yu-San, Nanako-Chan, They are Ann and Shiho" Then he turned to the other duo and introduced Ann and Shiho to them. "They're my friends since middle school."

"Hi." Yu waved at them and smiled.

"Hi!" Nanako noticed the blonde hair of Ann, looking at her with a thoughtful look before asking again. "Um... Ann-san, I think I saw you with Rise-San in a magazine before!"

"Oh! You must be talking about my issue with her a few months ago." Ann waved her hand in front of her face, smiling shyly. "Risette was much better than me."

"Rise told me about you before." Yu suddenly said, causing the blonde to widen his eyes. "She said that you had the potential to do it."

"Huh?!" Even Shiho couldn't believe what the man just commented, "You know Risette personally?!" They shouted in unison.

"Yep. He knows her." Akira answered for him, crossing his arms in front of his chest. "Now let's go, shall we?"

The two girls nodded and started to take Nanako everywhere. They bought her various kinds of clothes with Yu and Akira following, paying and taking bags for them.

"Ugh..." The younger boy looked at the bags in his and Yu's hand and sighed. "I officially regret my decision to let them meet Nanako-Chan."

"At least Nanako was having fun." Yu smiled at the sight of Nanako having fun with Ann and Shiho. "Aside from the paying and the carrying part."

"That's the point, Yu-San."

"OK then..." The silver-haired men spotted the three girls coming back with another pile of bags. "Um... welcome back..." The duo shuttered, visibly sweatdropped at the sight of the bags.

Shiho saw the sweat on Akira's forehead and promptly took some of his bags. "Ann, I think we shouldn't let them take every bag and pay for us." She said.

"Huh?" Ann's eyes darted around Akira and Shiho for a moment before smirking devilishly, shifting her head to Nanako. "Nanako, you see that? That's the look of an old couple!"

"WHAT?!" Akira and Shiho shouted unanimously, blushing hard at the blonde's word. "NO! OBVIOUSLY!"

"Haha! You two just like O-Nee San and Yukiko-San before!" Nanako laughed at the duo's responses, pointing them in the process. "Aren't they?"

"Yeah, it's giving me nostalgia." Yu said, trying his best to hold his laughter.

"What?! You too?!"The boy's eyes darting between the three before turning back to Shiho, looking at her with an apologetic look. "I'm sorry about that... This is going to be a long while..."

"I can see that..." Shiho nodded and facepalmed herself.

* * *

[4th May, Arcade Building of Shibuya]

"Welcome to the Arcade Center!" After a day of buying clothes and carrying bags with Shiho and Ann, Akira brought the two cousins to the Arcade Center. "What do you want to play, Nanako-Chan?" He asked, leaning toward Nanako.

"Um..." Nanako looked around and after a few minutes of choosing, she pointed at the claw machine with Teddie as the logo. "I want to play that!" The little girl exclaimed, rushing toward the machine.

Yu and Akira smiled in unison and followed her. "Teddie plushie... He's really popular nowadays." The silver-haired man smiled and put in a 100-yen coin and turned to Nanako, encouraging her.

The girl instantly took the control stick and started handling the claw, trying her best to get a Teddie plushie with the other two encouraging her in the back. However, she kept failing and failing for a dozen tries, Yu sweatdropped at the sight of his wallet emptying gradually. "Akira... we're going broke if this keeps happening..." he whispered to him.

"Nanako-Chan, I think we should play another game..."Seeing Nanako kept failing, Akira decided to step out and suggested. But upon recognizing the face of her pouting, the boy softened and decided to play for her. "Nevermind, I'll win for you, Nanako-Chan!"

"I'll get it with the first try!" He exclaimed with a smirk, started to control the claw, straight for the Teddie plushie. "Let's finish this-"

Akira pressed the button to lower the claw to grab the prices. However, the claw missed. Then again, and again, and again...

After about ten unsuccessful attempts, the boy slumped to the ground in defeat. "N-No way... How could I lose..."

"Ugh... Akira, I think we should play another game..." Yu sweatdropped at the slumped form of him, "Nanako, we can't continue anymore..."

"..." Nanako looked down, still want to get the plushie. However, after a few moments of choosing, she decided to compromise. "Ok... Let's play another game..."

Yu nodded and turned to Akira with a concerned face. "Akira, let's go..."

"OK..." He was going following the cousins to another game. However, the voice of Ryuji suddenly rang out loud, capturing his attention.

"Ichijou! I can't believe you're here!"

The boy bobbed his head and spotted Ryuji coming to the trio with a grin on his face. "It's been a long while!" The blonde boy exclaimed, still grinning.

Akira nodded and stared at him for a moment before suddenly putting both of his hands on his shoulder. "Sakamoto, I have a request for you..." He said with a look of determination.

"Can you get that plushie for us?"

"Huh?" Ryuji was very confused at Akira's request, but seeing the cousins near him, he nodded and took the control of the claw machine for them. "I can't grantee that I'll win this, but I'll try."

The other boy turned to Nanako and nodded with a smile. Yu looked at him hesitantly for a moment before sighing too. Ryuji casually controlled the control stick and get the Teddie plushie in one go, somehow.

"...How did you do it." Akira shuttered, sweatdropping at the plushie in Ryuji's hand. "How can you win this in one go!"

"It's easy, you know." The blonde boy answered, raising an eyebrow at him. "By the way, who is that cute little girl? Your cousins?"

"They're just my friends."

"OK." Ryuji nodded, looking at the two cousins before suddenly suggested to play together. "Hey! I came here having a fun time after all, how about that we play together!"

"What?!" The other boy exclaimed. Even though he denied it at first, but he compromised in the end. "Fine..."

He turned to the two cousins and officially introduces him to them. "Um... This is Ryuji Sakamoto, another friend from Shujin."

"Hi." Ryuji awkwardly rubbed the back of his neck and greeted them. "I'm Ryuji, nice to meet you!"

The two cousins quickly became familiar with him, and the four enjoyed a good time afterward.

* * *

[5th of May, Shibuya station]

Today is the day of the official celebration of successfully stealing the heart of Kamoshida. And by the money of the gold medal they got from the palace, they were enough to pay for five people.

Once Ren finally arrived at the Shibuya station, he saw the other two Phantom Thieves waiting for him in the entrance, dressed in their casual outfit.

"Hey, Ren!" Ann noticed the fuzzy-haired boy and called out, gesturing him over. "OK, now there's only Akira and Shiho left."

"Man, they're even later than me." Ryuji sighed, taking out his phone and ready to call Akira. However, the duo they're talking about arrived, panting heavily in unison.

"S-Sorry about that..." Akira, who was dressed in his casual outfit, said between panting. "Yu-San and Nanako-Chan went back to Inaba today, so I went to the station with them..."

The trio nodded in understanding at Akira's reason before shifting their head to Shiho. "Um... Shiho, then why are you late too?"

"Slept over." She quickly answered, also panting heavily.

Sighing, Ann led the group and went to the Hotel, talking excitedly about eating and what their favorites were in the meanwhile.

After a few minutes of walks, they arrived at the Wilton Hotel and promptly confirmed the booking. Without another word, the group went to the buffet area and started to eat.

"Five-Star hotel is no joke..." Akira said in awe, touching the couch he was sitting on. "Now I know why Shiho wants to be here for ages..."

Shiho smiled at Akira's word, but the call from her stomach disturbed her. "...I think we should get some food."

"Obviously!" Ryuji exclaimed, standing up from the couch and going to the trays with food, Ann and Shiho followed soon after.

"So good!" Ryuji moaned in bliss, enjoying those different kinds of meats on his plates.

Their table was filled with meat, pies, and cakes. Most meats were brought back by Ryuji and those dissert are brought by Shiho and Ann.

Akira observed the beef steak on his plates. Taking his knife and fork, he cut through the beef steak easily. He took a piece of the steak into his mouth and felt the taste of it ."Not that bad..." He murmured, making Shiho looked at him with a puzzled look.

"Akira, what do you mean by 'Not that bad'?" She asked, tilting her head in the process.

"Well, it's not as good as I remembered, but still good nevertheless." He replied, earning a few wide eyes from the three Phantom Thieves.

"Dude! You've been here?!"

"How could I not know that, Akira?!"

"Um... That's unexpected."

Akira awkwardly laughed at the trio's reaction, rubbing his neck. "Mitsuru-San took me here once, but that was a few years ago."

"Dude, you're so lucky!" Ryuji can't help but amazed by him.

"Not that really..." The other boy smiled shyly. "It's been years since I've been to here, so whatever."

Morgana poked his head out and whispered to Ren. "Ren, can you give me some sashimi?"

"Oh, here." Ren noticed the cat beside him and fed him the sashimi with a pair of chopsticks. "You like it, Morgana?"

"Yes!" The cat exclaimed, chowing down the sashimi. "No wonder Lady Ann chose this place...!"

"Of course it's good. This is a famous hotel after all." Ann said, grinning delightedly before returning to a slightly frustrated look. "Oh yeah, I heard that the police were coming to interview some people at school."

"Kamoshida is a former Olympic Champion after all..." Shiho sighed, looking down at the cake in front of her. "Our school will be shrouded in rumors for a while."

"That's troublesome." Morgana remarked with a frown, still not aware that both Akira and Shiho could hear him.

"It's a huge scandal and Shujin will be on the spotlight for a while." Akira said, pretending he didn't hear Morgana. "Especially with the rumors about Ren and Sakamoto blackmailing him."

Ryuji tsk'ed, taking another bite of his pork with a frown. "Ichijou, you don't believe in those rumors, right?" He asked, looking directly at him and Shiho.

"No." The two answered in unison, shaking their heads in the process. "You two are not that kind of person, I'm sure about that." Akira followed, taking another bite at the beef.

"Me too." Shiho nodded in agreement.

"At least we have each other to trust..." Ren smiled at the two's responses. "Now Kamoshida was gone, I can physically feel the atmosphere be more positive now."

"Yeah! Now everyone're pumped up! I keep hearin' stuff like 'The Phantom Thieves really stole his heart!'" Ryuji grinned excitedly, taking out his phone. "I think most people don't believe it, but some of them actually seem grateful. Look at this."

"The Phantom Aficionado Website..?" Ann read out loud, staring at the website in Ryuji's phone with wide-eye. "The Phantom Thieves did help a lot of people..." She murmured, pretending she wasn't one of the thieves.

The other three also looked at the website on his phone, reading the comments out loud.

'Well done, Phantom Thieves.'

'Now I can keep going too.'

'Thank you for giving us hope.'

'Thank you for saving me...'

"They did save all of us, right?" Akira said, seeing everyone nodded at his words. "Whoever are those Phantom Thieves, they have a good heart... I can sense that."

"If not them... I think I would be stuck in rumors for the rest of my school life..." Shiho followed, also smiling.

Ren smiled too, not only knowing that peoples are grateful to their work, but they also saved their friends too. He looked at Ryuji and Ann, they're smiling too.

"...Hey!" After a moment, Akira suddenly remembered the time limit of their buffets and stood up instantly. "We have an hour of the time limit, right?"

"!" Shiho realized that they had wasted some time talking to each other, looking at Ann wit ha horrified look. "Ann, we have how much time left?"

"Just fifty minutes left!" Ann exclaimed, glancing at the clock while panicking.

"I'm not gonna finish all the beef dishes at this pace!" Ryuji exclaimed, rubbing his head in frustration.

"I'll eat with you!" Akira replied, taking one of the plates in front of him. "With two of us, we can finish this!"

"I need to eat my way through the entire dessert menu...!" Ann declared, also panicking.

"Ann, count me in!" Shiho shouted, taking some of her plates. "We can do this together!"

"Shiho... You're a lifesaver!"

Ren and Morgana sweatdropped at the scene in front of them, "There are fifty minutes left... they don't need to be that nervous about not able to finish this..." Ren murmured, a drop of sweat dripping along his cheek.

"Akira, Ren! I'll get food for the three of us!" Before the other two boys could say anything, Ryuji rushed off to the food servers. "Look after my stuff!"

"Shiho and I are going to get some more dessert, look after our stuff too!" With that said, the two girls rushed off to the dessert area. Leaving only Akira and Ren in the couches, with Morgana poking his head out in the bag.

"There's a lot of food here already..." Ren commented, looking at the number of plates on the table.

"Well... Typical Ann and Ryuji." Akira commented, shrugging his shoulder. "This is their first buffet in Wilton after all-"

His comment was interrupted as the trio came back with an inhuman amount of food in their hands. Somehow able to bring back with only a plate to carry them.

"Ren, Ichijou." Ryuji said, putting a few plates in front of them. "It's for you two!"

"Just call me Akira, bro." Akira sweatdropped at the food he brought back, it's all meat. "Also, only meat?! Seriously?!"

Meantime, Ann didn't know where should start first. "Shiho, where should I start?" She asked, looking at the black-haired girl.

"All about the cake..." Ren facepalmed, sighing in the process.

"Someone was going to throw up. I'm sure about that." Akira added, swallowing in fear. " Let's hope that I'm wrong..."

"So happy…" Ann said in a sing-song tone, smiling in joy as she digs into the blueberry cake.

"This is the best day of my life..." Shiho added, also smiling in joy.

Making sure no one saw him, Akira secretly took out his phone and took a photo of Shiho's expression of joy. 'This is going to be my new wallpaper.' He thought, smiling vaguely.

"Hey. Calories." Ryuji jokingly teased, looking at the number of cakes in front of Ann and Shiho.

"Shut up!" The blonde girl retorted back, glaring at him. "This is our only chance to eat something like this!"

"Now I've tasted the famous Wilton Hotel cake buffet..." Shiho said, looking at the cakes with a hint of sadness. "Nothing will be as good as the beauty of Wilton!"

"Nah, I think Kirijo's better." Akira jokingly said, making the two girls glaring at him.

"Just let us experience this gift from heaven!" The blonde girl retorted, turning her head back to the cakes. "Shiho, you're OK?"

"Of course!" The black-haired girl nodded determinately, eating another piece of strawberry cake. "There are only twenty minutes left! We need to be fast!"

"Huh?!" She glanced at the clock on the wall with wide eyes, then hastily eating another cake, and another, another, another...

Ren, who was only looking at others with a look of concern, saw a well-dressed woman giving all of them a dirty look. "Tsk, how did children like this end up in here? I prefer my meals to remain hooligan-free."

The woman's friend sneered and leaned to her. "Come, let us go."

Ren bit his lips at the woman's word. 'Adults...' He thought bitterly.

After fifteen minutes of hard work and pure determination, the Persona users finally won the battle against the food, Including the cat.

"We did it..." Akira groaned, pinching his nose bridge. "Horray..."

"No one threw up, somehow..." Ren slumped into his seat, feeling his belt's size shrinks. "that's a win for me."

"Y-yeah…" Ryuji shuttered, focusing on his breathing. "This is a victory...for all of us…"

"Power of bonds!" Shiho unironically exclaimed, pumping her fist into the air. "It's all because of our power of bonds!"

"That was tough..." Ren murmured.

"This is worse than Aiya's rainy day challenge..." Akira commented.

However, Ann was still smiling and doing fine, somehow. "Good job, you guys. How about one last dish to cleanse your palates?" She said cheerfully, ignoring the looks of others. "I recommend the seasonal tart! The grapefruit has both alluring sweetness and tangy sourness!"

"Stop...I don't wanna hear about sour stuff…" Ryuji growled, clenching his stomach in pain. "This isn't good...I gotta go to the bathroom..."

Morgana nodded, pleading weakly to Ren. "M-Me too...Please...carry me gently…"

A rich couple dressed in different kinds of luxurious brands passed by their table, looking at them with a disgusted look. "My, look at that table…" The woman whispered to her partner.

The man beside her hmphed. "They must not normally have the opportunity to each such exquisite food."

The Persona users frowned in unison at the couple's word.

"I can only imagine what their parents must be like." The woman laughed, then walking away with her partner.

Once the couple was gone, Ryuji glared at their direction angrily. "What was that?!... Urp." He burped, covering his mouth. "We don't have time for that...C'mon, let's go…"

"Yeah..." Ren got up from his couch and gently shouldered his bag, then left for the bathroom with Ryuji and Morgana.

"I'll get my one last dish..." Ann murmured and left for her last dish, leaving Akira and Shiho alone.

Once the Phantom Thieves were gone for now, Akira instantly turned towards Shiho. "Um...Shiho, actually..." He paused for a brief moment. "I'm considering we should continue our other-world business."

"About the palace and stuff... you're already set on this, right?" Shiho replied, raising an eyebrow.

He nodded in response. "It's just... If you don't want to continue, I'll do this myself..."

"Now you've said this, how can I refuse?" Shiho shook her head, smiling slightly. "I'll go with you."

"It's going to be a tough journey... Are you sure about that?"

"...I can't run away from myself or anything anymore..." Shiho looked down a the table, a determined look in her eyes. "I'll go with you. I'm sure about that."

"Shiho..." He murmured, smiling vaguely.

"The Phantom duo was formed, I guess."

"Phantom duo? that's lame." The girl laughed for a bit at his words. "We should come up with a better name."

"Then what suggestion you have?" Akira asked, leaning toward the table. "I got none."

"Ugh...Actually..." Shiho pondered for a moment before shaking her head. "No, I don't have one..."

"Then, the Phantom Duo was set..." The boy interrupted himself before finish his sentences. "...How about 'Le Fool'?"

"'Le Fool'? Why?"

"It just popped up in my head." He explained, "I love Tarot Card, remember?"

"Yeah, I remember that." Shiho laughed for a bit. "Aki-Chan~"

"Please don't call me that." Akira deadpanned, glared at her for a brief moment.

"Fine..." Shiho sighed, pouting jokingly. "But since I don't have any more suggestions, I'll agree with yours."

"Well... The Phantom Duo 'Le Fool' was formed, I guess."

* * *

And with that, chapter nine of P5: Another Thief concludes! thank you for reading!

The Phantom Duo(for now) was formed(Anticlimatly)! The net chapter will focus on the Forming of the Phantom Thieves and Prison of Sloth: Memento!

I hope you would enjoy this story so far, reviews are welcome!


	10. Chapter 10: The Phantom

While Akira and Shiho were talking about the other-worldly business, Ren and Ryuji just came out from the bathroom. They walked toward the elevator.

"Ughh, I'm stuffed…" Morgana groaned, walking back in Ren's bag.

"I totally panicked when I saw the 'Closed For Cleaning' sign at the bathrooms…" Ryuji sighed, stopping of the front of the elevator.

"You were talking big about eating until you puked, but you really did puke…" The cat cringed. "Are you some kind of moron?"

"Hey, same goes for you!" The blonde boy argued, glaring at the cat before turning back to the elevator panel. "What floor was that restaurant on..?"

"Second Floor," Ren answered, pushing his glasses. "I remember that."

"So lower than us." Ryuji nodded, pressing the down button of the elevator.

The elevator arrived about a minute later, the elevator arrived. However, a group of men wore in black suits suddenly shoved them aside. Ryuji gasped in surprise, staring the men in anger. Ren, on the other hand, noticed a man stood out in the group by his bald head and a pair of designer glasses.

"What the-" Ryuji was interrupted as the bald man suddenly turned to one of the suited men.

"There's still no update on the case?" The bald man asked coldly.

"N-Not yet…" Another man in suit answered, bowing his head apologetically. "Excuse me, but why are you so involved? It's not something you should be concerned with…"

"I don't care about your opinion, you incompetent buffoon!" He spat, glaring at the man. "When I say pick up the pace, you do it!"

Ryuji looking at the event unfold in front of him, finally unable to hold it anymore. "Hey, you're cuttin' in line!" He yelled.

The subordinate turned to the blonde boy unimpressed. "What do you want?"

Ren put his two hands in his pockets and staring darkly at them. "Apologize, to us."

The suited man looked at his watch and stated plainly, "We're in a hurry."

"Oh, I'm sorry." Ryuji spoke sarcastically, rolling his eyes in the process. "So you can butt in front of other people if you're in a hurry?"

The bald man glanced at them from the corner of his eyes. "It seems the customer base has changed since I was here last. Have they started a daycare?" He said dispassionately.

"What?" The two teens groaned in unison, narrowing their eyes darkly.

"Sir, we don't have time for this." The suited man spoke lowly, turning to the bald man.

He nodded. "I know."

The elevator arrived and sliding the door open. Ryuji tried stopping them by stepping forward, but one of the suited men shoved him away. Ren, on the other hand, can only stand there and clenching his hand into a fist. 'Piece of shit...' He thought darkly.

The bald man shouted at his bodyguard, "Don't bother with them!" Seeing the bodyguards nodding at his word, the group walked into the elevator, closing the doors behind them.

'Wait for a second... Is that voice...?' Ren clenched his eyes as a barrage of images suddenly flashes inside his mind. He quickly shook his head afterward.

Ryuji scowled, glaring at the spot where the men stood. "The hell was with that bossy guy?"

Morgana poked his head out from Ren's bag and looked at the two uncertainly. "Shouldn't we head back down?' He asked quietly.

"Yeah, but…" The blonde boy bit his lips, pressing the call button again. "That dick really pissed me off. He wasn't even hidin' the fact that he looks down on everyone!"

"Just... don't lose your temper over this." Morgana sighed, looking at him sympathetically.

"I just can't forgive shitty adults like that..!" Ryuji turned around with a frustrated look, "You agree, Ren?"

"Ren?" He noticed that Ren clenching his hands on his forehead and asked, looking at him worryingly. "You're OK?"

However, Ren didn't react to his word, just keep clenching his forehead. 'That man's voice...It sounded almost like the one from back then…'

Seeing no reaction from him, Ryuji's frown deepened. "...What's wrong?" He said, walking closer to him.

Akira shook his head. "I'm OK. Just a bit tired." He said reassuringly, smiling in the process.

The blonde boy's frown further deepened at his response. "Not feelin' good?"

"I always call him to sleep, but he never listens to me." Morgana stated, climbing to Ren's shoulder.

Sighing, Ryuji turned back to the elevator. "Ugh, that "sir" bullshit makes me sick...!" he muttered. "...Dammit!"

The elevator arrived, its doors sliding open, and they walked in and pressed a lower floor.

* * *

Back in the buffet area, Akira, Shiho, and Ann were waiting for the two boys to return. Akira was checking his phone for The Phantom Aficionado Website to see what others are saying about them. Shiho was laying back to the couch, taking a small nap. Ann, on the other hand, was still eating the desserts.

"Ahh, so good…" The blonde said in a sing-song tone, eating the final slice of the cake. "I have to go get more!" She grinned, getting up from her seat.

"Ann, you'll be fat from that," Akira commented plainly, still looking at his phone. "You're a model after all."

"Shut up." She glared at the brown-haired boy, pouting. "You're not my mom."

Akira merely shrugged at her response.

Hmphing, Ann turned around and left for more desserts for her. Akira did want to ignore her to focus on the comments at The Phantom Aficionado Website, but a yelp from her caught his attention later.

"Watch where you're going, you hussy!" An older woman was glaring angrily at her, seeing the dropped plate at the ground, Akira quickly pieced everything together.

"How dare you make me drop my plate!" The woman shouted, earning more attention from the others.

Ann just gave her an odd look at her word. "What? You bumped into me. I was standing right here."

"Don't lie! You purposely walked into me!" The woman retorted, making Akira on the couch frowned.

With a sigh, he walked up to the two. "Ann." He whispered, standing between the two and tugging the blonde behind.

After a few coughs, he turned back to the woman with a fake smile. "Ma'am, please calm down. I think that it's all just misunderstanding."

"Misunderstanding?! Are you serious!" The woman just glared at him with an intense glare. "Do you know who I am?"

Trying his best to hold his emotion from overflowing, Akira observed the woman from top to bottom. "Actually, no." He answered, resting his hands in his pockets.

Feeling irritated, the woman pointed her finger directly at his forehead. "Then shut up! You have no right-"

"Um... Ma'am, don't you see the crowd who are watching us right now?" He plained asked with an unimpressed look, interrupting the woman. "You don't want to make a scene to embarrass yourself, right?"

The woman scrunched up her face, panicking eyes darting around at all the people who were watching intently. "Hmph. I suppose," she replied while trying to look composed. Then she walked away, leaving only Akira and Ann.

"Huh... Bitch." Akira murmured to himself before turning around to face Ann. "You're OK?" He asked with a worried tone, a huge difference from the irritating tone before.

"Yeah." She replied, still glaring at the woman. She grabbed as many desserts as she could on her plates, stomping back to the table.

Akira was back to his website checking after the two were back to their table, occasionally glancing at Ann, who was eating a cake with an angry look.

Sighing, he noticed the face Shiho made when napping and couldn't hold himself to not take a picture about this. Making sure Ann was too invested in the cake, he swiftly took a picture of her face while sleeping.

'She's so cute while sleeping!' Akira thought with a grin on his face, satisfied with the result.

Then he noticed the other two boys walking back to the table, both exhausted for some reason.

Ann glared up at them from the empty plate. "What took you so long?!"

Ryuji was taken back by her sudden change of mood, placing his hand out in front of him. "Why're you all pissy…?"

"Sorry...I had a run-in with some woman a second ago." Sighing, she slumped back to her seat. "She bumped into me, but then said it was all my fault when she dropped her plate."

"What a bitch..." The blonde boy replied, frowning.

"If not that I came out and talk her away, I bet Ann's mood would be even worse," Akira added, looking up from his phone. "I almost use my connection to Kijiro Group to scare that bitch off..."

Ryuji and Ren sat down, Morgana also poked his head out in the bag.

"The restaurant workers all looked at us with this disapproving expression…" Ann murmured, looking at the workers from afar. "I wonder if we're out of place here…"

"Maybe..." Ren sighed, leaning back to his seat. "And this sucks."

"During my last visit to this place, I got the same treatment as well." Akira nodded sympathetically. "Mitsuru-San later sent a complaint to Wilton's manager... But nothing has changed."

Suddenly, the phone in his hand buzzed and caught his attention. "Who is calling me right now?" The brown-haired boy looked at his phone and widened his eyes. "Ugh... excuse me, someone important is calling."

Seeing a nod from the trio, Akira got up and walked away toward the elevator, leaving the three Phantom Thieves and the sleeping Shiho.

Seeing that Shiho wasn't going to wake up, Ryuji looked at the cat in Ren's bag. "Hey, Morgana."

He looked at the blonde boy curiously. "What is it?"

"...Anyone could have a Palace, yeah?"

The cat nodded. "Anyone with a strong, distorted desire."

Nodding, the blonde boy leaned forward. "Same for them havin' a change of heart if their Treasure gets stolen?"

Morgana nodded again. "That would be the case."

Ann tilted her head. "Why are you bringing this up all of a sudden?"

"We had trouble earlier too. These selfish shitheads, who just looked down on everyone else..." He explained with a shrug. "I was just wonderin' if we'd be able to change those kindsa people too."

"You mean...you want to continue as the Phantom Thieves?" Ann asked hesitantly with wide eyes.

"I've been thinkin'...We put a lot of work into changin' Kamoshida's heart, but nobody believes in the Phantom Thieves." Ryuji nodded again, biting his lips. "Plus...those guys who had no other choice but to just deal with it are thankin' us. Us, of all people."

"There were many victims..." Ren answered, rubbing his chin as he was in deep thought. "And that's just the tip of the iceberg."

"I...I agree." Ann replied quietly. "If we ignore people who are in trouble, I'd go back to being the same as I was before..!"

"Well...that's true." Morgana looked up at her and the others hesitantly. "You're under my tutelage. There's nothing we can't accomplish as phantom thieves!"

"Shouldn't we be able to help 'em out?" Ryuji asked, looking at them with hesitation.

"If we don't stand up to fight, who will?" Ren said with a grim look, determination leaking through his eyes.

"But…" Ann hesitated. "That means we'll have to fight Shadows again, doesn't it…?"

Morgana nodded. "Indeed. That can't be avoided."

"Eh, I'm sure we'll manage. Right?" The blonde boy asked, looking toward Ren hopefully.

"Yeah, we can manage it." Ren answered, smirking faintly.

Everyone nodded determinedly. The Phantom Thief was official now.

* * *

In the Meantime, Akira walked to the elevator area and looked at the person calling. It was Mitsuru calling. He put the

"Mitsuru-San? Why calling me now?" He asked, leaning the wall behind him.

_"Akira... It's about that teacher in your school."_ Mitsuru sighed._ "I read the news."_

"Oh, Kamoshida...He's going to rot in prison, right?"

_"Yes..."_ The woman sighed again, this time out of guilt. _"I'm sorry for... not helping you back then."_

"It's OK, Mitsuru-San," Akira said, smiling reassuringly. "The Phantom Thief of heart helped us, after all."

_"The Phantom Thief of Heart..."_ She paused for a short while before suddenly changed to a grim tone. _"Let's be honest, you're one of them, right?"_

"Wha-" He interrupted himself mid-sentence, trying to play it cool. "No, of course. How could I?"

_"You don't need to deny that. Narukami already told me everything."_

"...So you know now." Knowing that he didn't need to tell lies anymore, he nodded. "Well, I know who are they and how they did it-"

"They have one person who can hold multiple Persona, right?" Mitsuru interrupted him. "I don't want to cut corners, but I know about those Persona and otherworldly things."

"You know...?!" Akira exclaimed with wide eyes. "How did you kno-"

"I used to be in a team of Persona users, I am one as well." She interrupted him again. "Remember the time when you're living with me in the dorm?"

"O-Of course..." He shuttered, memories of the strange encounter back in seven years ago. "Those weird nights, right?"

"Yeah, the dark hour..." She sighed. "I had to put you away from our business for your safety. But now you have a Persona of your own as well..."

After a brief pause, she continued. "I think I should send Ken over to Shujin to look after all of you, just in case."

"NO! You don't need to bother him for me." Akira quickly denied Mitsuru's suggestion, shaking his head. "I can handle it myself, or with Shiho with me."

"I'll only be more worried about you when you said that!" Mitsuru shouted back, causing him to put his phone away for a bit. "I don't want you to risk your life like how I used to."

"But if I don't stand up to fight, who will?" He retorted back. "You don't need to go that far, Yu-San also doesn't need to solve the murder case, then why did you do this?"

"..." Taken back by his word, she stayed silents for a moment before speaking again. "Maybe... you're right. But I'll send someone to help you with your journey anyway."

"...Fine... later, Mitsuru-San." With a sigh, the two cousins cut the call. Akira walked back to the table, overhearing the three thieves conversation in the process.

_"So our name will be 'The Phantom', that's official now!"_ Ryuji exclaimed, pumping his fist.

_"And we'll only choose our target with every one of us agree to." _Ann said, a faint smile on her face. _"I like that unanimous decision part! It's like we're making some kind of pact!"_

_"Now then, this is the official formation of the Phantom Thieves organization!"_ Morgana declared.

Seeing them finishing their conversation, he walked back and sat down. "Sorry about that, Mitsuru-San just called me."

"It's fine." Ann answered, noticed the clock on the wall. "Oh no! Our time for the buffet ran out…"

"I guess we'll just have to talk more tomorrow." Ryuji snorted, rubbing his neck.

Seeing everyone started to leave, Akira quickly woke Shiho up. "Wake up, sleepyhead, we're leaving."

"Huh...?" Finally waking up, Shiho rubbed her eyes for a moment before finally realizing what happened. "I slept through a lot, right?"

"You didn't sleep that well last night, right?" He asked, smiling faintly as she nodded in response.

"Too excited for today." She laughed for a bit before turning back to others. "Let's go, shall we?"

With a nod from everyone, they left the hotel together.

* * *

[6th May, Afterschool, hallway]

The 'Person to help him' didn't come today, how surprising. Knowing that it'll be a while before anyone coming, Akira picked up his bag and ready to leave. But the sudden appearance of Mishima stopped him in the track.

"Hey, Ichijou." He whispered, looking refreshed after the Golden week break. "Have you heard of the Phan-Site?"

"Phan-Site?" It took Akira a moment before realizing what Mishima was talking about, The Phantom Aficionado Website. "Oh! Your talking about that Aficionado Website."

"Well..." Mishima noticed that knowing look on his face and sighed in relief, leaning close to him. "I am the one who starts this website, and the admin."

"Oh...Kay." The brown-haired boy nodded, raising an eyebrow. "Then why are you telling me this?"

"I've talked to Amamiya as he was the Phantom Thief." The blue-haired boy continued to whisper, a grim on his face. "And I believe that you are also one as well!"

"No, I'm not one of them." Akira deadpanned. "And you're not going to expose them, right?"

"Of course! I'll support you guys, no matter the cost." Mishima exclaimed, giving him a thumbs up. "And since you saved me back during the rally, you can see this me paying you guys back!"

"Well... Thanks." He smiled, placing a hand on his shoulder.

Mishima left Akira alone after that, and Akira was planning to go to the library for the upcoming exam. But then, a loud yell from the classroom of class 2-D caught him in the middle of walking down the hallway.

_"Wait, Oh CRAP!" _It was from Ryuji. _"D-D-Don't we have an exam comin' up?!"_

"Jesus... He's loud..." He murmured to himself. "Typical Ryuji, I guess." With that said, The brown-haired boy continued his walk toward the library.

Once he entered the library, instead of the usual whispers about his 'sexual assault', he heard some whispers to compliment him.

_"It's Ichijou Senpai!"_

_"So he's studying for the mid-term..."_

_"He seems happier after Kamoshida's gone..."_

Overhearing those good whispers about him, he can't help but smile faintly. 'It seems like that my reputation finally getting a revive.' He thought happily.

With that faint smile still on his face, he sat at an empty table and start studying.

* * *

[7th May]

"I hate subway..." Akira murmured to himself while being squished by the other passengers on the train. But then, the voice of the news caught his attention.

_"Today's headlines are…'Volleyball Beating Investigation!' The school claims to have left teaching methods up to its staff. It has denied once again that it had any knowledge of the beatings."_

'Kobayakawa is now in full damage control now...' He sighed at the news, looking down at the bag in his arms. 'Maybe Shiho and I should find another target, but the exam is coming up after all... '

After a painfully long train ride, Akira finally arrived at the Shujin. Even though not that much had changed, but it just felt weird that he's no longer had to worry about Kamoshida. Everyone just seems happier now, the atmosphere just felt more lively.

He went to the classroom and sat down at his seat. Hearing a pair of footsteps approaching, he turned toward the sources and saw Ann approached him with an embarrassed look, for some reason.

"Ann...?" He asked with a confused look. "You're OK?"

"No! I'm perfectly fine!" Ann quickly changed back to her usual attitude, shaking her hand in front of her. "It's just that... can you help me with the mid-term?"

"So my theory was correct..." The brown-haired boy couldn't help but smirk wat her request, covering his mouth to hide his laughter. "You're bad anything other than English!"

The blonde's look instantly darkened at his word, replaced by a furious one. "Say that again and I'll personally screw you up!" She shouted, getting some attention from other students.

"But that's a fac-" Akira interrupted himself mid-sentence with a sigh, knowing that she would just use his crush on Shiho against him. "Fine, so when and where?"

Ann pondered for a moment before answering. "How about The family diner in Shibuya tomorrow! I can also call Shiho and others to come too!"

Even though he had never heard of a family restaurant in Shibuya. but noticing the chilling look of her, Akira couldn't say 'no' to her. "Tomorrow, fine..."

* * *

[Afterschool, the Shibuya atation]

"So where is that god damn family restaurant..." After a few unsuccessful runs across the whole central street, Akira walked back toward the station. However, the sight of Ann, Ren, Ryuji, and Morgana stopped him mid-track and quickly hid somewhere else, overhearing their conversation.

_"'I don't know what to do about my ex who's stalking me. His name is Nakanohara Natsuhiko.'"_ Ann said, seems to be reading out the request on the Phan-Site. _"It says he's a teller at City Hall."_

_"A government worker's stalkin' someone..?"_ Ryuji exclaimed, looking disgusted at the word on the Phan-Site.

_"That should be a suitable target."_ Morgana nodded. _"All right, now get the Meta-Nav ready."_

However, their conversation quickly quiets down, only a sentence from Morgana can be heard. _"Actually, we don't need a location this time. Just enter exactly what I say. The keyword is…"Mementos."_

After a few more exchanges, Ryuji tapped the phone and the four thieves disappeared in thin air.

"Another Palace?!" Akira quickly rushed to the spot they disappeared and pulled out his phone. "So 'Memento'... But this is who's palace."

With a confused face, he typed the keyword and tapped the button.

**"Memento... Begin navigation."**

"Wait, what?" Before he can react to what's going on, the vision around him distorted and transported him to the metaverse.

* * *

With that, the tenth chapter of P5: Another Thief conclude! Thank you for reading!

**Next Chapter:**

**Now both The Phantom and Le Fool had found the Palace of everyone- Memento, not only they discovered another potential big target to steal his heart on!**

**And the next member of The Phantom Thieves... approaches.**

I hope you would enjoy this story so far, reviews are welcome!


	11. Chapter 11: Helping Hand from the past

[Memento, Enterance]

Akira, now in his full thief outfit, looked around and observed the surrounding. Everything seems normal, but something just doesn't feel right. He felt some weight on his shoulder, just like the castle back then. The subway station was also replaced by a hellish version of it.

The light was dim, too dim for his liking. And the red walls and ceiling were covered by black vines, spreading like some tumors and such. The TV screens around were showing static, buzzing non-stop.

"What is this place..." He muttered, walking down to the subway station. "Whose palace is this..."

Entering the station, Jester noticed the four thieves standing in a group discussing something and quickly fired his grappling hook. Overhearing their conversation in the shadow.

"The hell is this place..?" Skull questioned, looking around and noticed the change to their costume. "Wait, our clothes changed?!"

The others looked down at themselves, their clothes did change. "The Shadows know we're here?!" Panther shouted.

With a cough, their attention turned to Mona. "Since the moment we stepped in." He confirmed with a nod.

"You should've told us!" Skull complained, glaring at him.

"We're still safe right here." He quickly reassured them. "I've come to investigate a number of times. Shadows never come up to this floor. But it's a different story once you go down. This place is simply teeming with them."

"So something attracts the shadow, right?" Joker asked while playing with his hair, earning a nod from the talking cat.

"You're right."

"OK, more importantly, " Panther asked irritably, stopping everyone in the process. "What is this memento?! "It's about time you start explaining."

With both paws on his hips, Morgana announced grimly. "Everyone, welcome to Memento, the palace of everyone."

"Huh?" Skull looked at everyone with a confused look. "Whaddya mean 'the palace of everyone'...?"

"A Palace as grand as the previous castle only forms when a person's wishes are extremely distorted." He explained. "So, instead of many individual Palaces, the general public has one gigantic shared Palace. That's where we are now...Mementos."

"Wait, this still doesn't make any sense!" Ryuji exclaimed, rubbing his head in confusion. "There're millions of people in here!"

"It's because of the common belief among everyone, right?" Joker suddenly said, rubbing his chin. "Like rumors about one thing, or news..."

"Or collective unconscious as I call it." Mona agreed with a firm nod. "I thought you won't understand what's going on but you did, how surprising."

"Thanks for the compliment." He smiled and turned to the dark hallway below. "So we can change someone's heart as long as their desire's still not too corrupted?"

"Exactly!" The feline nodded again, smiling. "The steps to do so are slightly different though."

The four thieves then walked near to the abyss below along the escalator. Skull looked at the sheer scale of the roads in front of him and turned to others again.

"But this place looks pretty huge. Are we gonna be able to get around just by walkin'...?" He asked, rubbing the back of his head.

Hearing Skulls word, Mona jumped down and landed on a spot a few meters away from the other thieves. "It seems the time has finally come…" He announced dramatically.

"Huh?" They turned to look at him, a confused look on their face.

Before anyone of them can speak out, Mona suddenly mimicked the henshin pose of Kamen Rider Ichigo.

"Morganaaaa...Henshin!" He suddenly yelled with a frim look and jumped to the air. A puff of smoke suddenly burst out and a black van fell to the ground. The thieves took a step back in shock, couldn't believe what they've just seen.

Even Jester in the shadow could only be gaping at the scene of the van in front of them. "What the hell is that..." He murmured in disbelief.

The black van had one yellow stripe extending from its hood to its rear, two blue eye-like orbs floating in front as the headlights. Also, it had a cattail in the back.

"Come now, Panther, Elegant. Ladies first." Mona said, sounding muttered for a bit.

"A car…?!" Panther could only yelp from the bizarre scene in front of her.

"What in the effin' world..." Skull murmured, eyes opened wide as the van talked.

"It's similar to what happened to your costumes, just some more practicing and you'll get to my level." The van explained.

Skull flailed his arms. "You turnin' into a car is totally different than our clothes changin'!" He yelled.

The van's wheel moved as if they're the legs of Mona. "For some reason, 'cats turning into buses' is an extremely widespread cognition among the general public."

"Why a bus though?" Panther questioned, raising an eyebrow while crossing her arms

The van jumped as if it shrugged. "...No idea."

In the meantime, Jester instantly realized what Mona was talking about ''cats turning into buses' is an extremely widespread cognition among the general public.'

"It's 'My Neighbor Totoro'." He thought, murmuring to himself. "No wonder why."

"Wait." Skull interrupted. "Why didn't you do this at the castle?!"

"I would have if I could!" The van replied, "But that castle was cramped, there were tons of stairs, and no way this fits on top of a chandelier!"

Rubbing his head in frustration, Skull walked to the door of the van and opened it. "C'mon, let's go!"

"Hey, Skull! Ladies first!" Before he can enter the van, Panther suddenly shouted and ran after him, wrestling him off in the process.

"Stop pullin' me! That's dangerous!" The blonde thief yelled.

The van shook violently. "Panther! Please be gentle!"

With a sigh, Joker opened the other side of the van and took a seat next to Skull. With the three thieves at the back seat, Skull cheered. "All aboard, let's go!"

But... nothing happened.

"ugh..." Panther looked at the seat in front of her, raising an eyebrow. "Mona, why aren't you moving?"

"I'm a car, remember?" The van replied, as if he's blinking in confusion. "I'm not going anywhere unless someone drives me."

"You can't drive yourself?!" Skull cried out from his seat.

The red thief looked at her teammates and questioned. "Do any of us know how to drive?"

"I've played some racing game." Joker opened the door and changed to the driver seat. "I think we won't crash to something." He hesitantly said, observing the panel in front of him.

He saw a switch under the steering wheel and turned it on. "Haha, that tickles!" The van suddenly shivered. "Oh, there...That feels so goood…"

Coughing in awkwardness, the leader of The Phantom turned around and looked at his teammates in hesitation. The other two shook their heads in response.

"Uh, is that purrin' I hear..? What a creepy-ass car!" Skull cracked.

"Don't underestimate my meowtary engine. We're going full throttle! It's time to fly!" The van replied.

"OK everyone, grab something!" Coughing again, Joker gripped the steering wheel and step on the gas. The van ran through the dark tunnel with great speed, with a few close calls in the process.

Seeing the van ran away, Jester fired his grappling hook and swing through the tunnel behind them. He considered helping them in battle while they fight some passing shadow, but dismissed the thought as he noticed that they are doing great against the shadows

After a few battles and More driving, they reached a place where there's only a swirling red vortex in front of them. The train tracks warped and sucked into the vortex, red and black blended to each other.

"This is the place… I sense the target up ahead." Mona said. "Now, are we ready?"

The van paused for a brief moment before jumping into the portal, with Jester quietly and swiftly following them. After getting through the portal, they come in contact with a shadowy figure like a normal salaryman. The three thieves jumped out from the van and the van turned back to the cat as well.

_**"She's mine…"**_ These two words kept echoing throughout the room, seemingly coming from the man himself.

"That must be Nakanohara's Shadow." Mona remarked, preparing his sword.

"Let's go." Nodding, Joker commanded. "We don't know how much evil he's done, but we have to do something if he's bothering other people."

With that said, the four thieves ran up to the shadow, readying their weapons.

_**"Who are you?!"**_ The shadow shouted.

"Are you that stalker?! Haven't you ever stopped to consider how your ex feels?" Panther yelled, stomping her heel.

The shadow swung his arm in fury.**_ "She's __my property! I can do whatever I want with her! It's not like she didn't treat me like a plaything! What's wrong with me doing the same?!"_**

"You can't treat someone like shit just 'cause they did it to you! What a load of crap…" Skull grumbled, glaring at him. "We're gonna change the hearts of all the bastards like you!"

"There are millions of people far worse than me!" He retorted. "What about Madarame…? He stole everything from me, but you're letting him off the hook?!"

"Madarame...?" Jester murmured to himself, feeling there's something more to it. "Maybe I should do some research after this."

On the other hand, the thieves were taken back by his word. "...Madarame? The hell's this guy goin' on about?" Skull said, scratching his head.

With a burst of black, the man transformed into an Obariyon, the little troll dancing around in front of them.

"Get ready! Here he comes!" Mona shouted, pulling his slingshot.

"Now that I finally have what's rightfully mine...I'm not going to let you take it away…" The shadow spoke. "Look...This is a winner-takes-all world. Come fight me and I'll show you what I mean!"

"Obariyon... huh." Joker smirked and summoned the same Persona as the shadow in front of him. "Snap!"

The troll behind Joker fired a quick shot injured the shadow, doing a moderate amount of damage.

"Dance! Carmen!" Following Joker's attack, Panther summoned his Persona and sent a barrage of fireball toward it. "Agi!"

Seeing that the shadows are visibly injured, Mona fired a few bullets of his slingshot to it. "Skull!" He shouted, earning a nod of confirmation from the other thief.

"Captain Kidd! Zio!" The pirate shot a burst of lighting, hitting the weakness of the shadow. It fell to the ground and they quickly ran up and pointed their gun to him.

"Everyone! All-Out Attack!"

They all took a step back before jumping into the air, using the wall around as support, they mercilessly attacked the shadow.

Skull landed on the ground face first before getting back up, holding a rock sign. "Freaking Boring."

The shadow changed into a pile of black liquid before returned to Nakanohara's figure.

"I-I was wrong...Please forgive me…" He whispered, looking down in defeat. "That evil teacher used me, then threw me out on the street. That's what caused my fixation on her…"

"Evil teacher?" Joker questioned, frowning.

"Huh? Could it be that Madarame guy he was talkin' about earlier?" Skull asked, looking at the shadow.

"Yeah...I just didn't want anyone to throw me out again…" He murmured, nodding in the process.

"So some selfish bastard was making you suffer too…" Panther said, looking at him sympathetically. "Still, you shouldn't have dragged an unrelated woman into your mess."

"Go and apologize to her." Joker nodded in agreement. "And learn from your mistake."

Nakanohara nodded. "Yes, I know that now. I'll put an end to my love for her…" He looked up at Joker and requested. "...Hey, you can change people's hearts, right? In that case…Won't you change Madarame's heart?! Before more people fall victim to him…"

"We will look into that." The leader of The Phantom nodded determinately. "And we will change his heart if he's evil."

"...Thank you." He smiled, a glowing blue light slowly enveloped him and he vanished into nothing, leaving a floating ball like the one in Kamoshida's palace and some money.

"Change... Madarame's heart?" Panther repeated, blinking in confusion.

"Hm? What's that shinin' thing?" Skull asked, walking up to the ball of light.

"It's the bud of a Treasure." Mona explained, walking toward the ball. "Had we left it be, it very well may have blossomed into a Palace. Joker, this will make a perfect reward!"

Nodding, Joker grabbed the Treasure.

"Madarame..." In the meantime, Jester was curious about what the shadow had said, jotting it down on his notebook. "I should go back now, Shiho needs to know this."

With that said, he fired his grappling hook and exited the underground dungeon

* * *

[Evening, Akira's apartment]

Once Akira was back in his apartment, he rushed to the bedroom and turned on the laptop. "Madarame..." He murmured while typing the name into the search bar.

"Wow... That's a lot of search result." He quietly exclaimed, looking at the amount of news and article about this man. "He is a famous and well-renowned artist, known for his diverse art-style. Lived in a shack to steer him away from materialistic things like money... Now only one pupil remains..."

"Let's see if our mighty Meta-nav can confirm the palace or not." He took out his phone and opened the Meta-nav, typing the full name as he looked at his Wikipedia. "Ichiryusai Madarame..."

The phone buzzed in response, confirming a palace of this man. Seeing the result, Akira changed to iM and texted Shiho about the next target.

**Akira: Hey!**

**Shiho: Huh? What happened?**

**Akira: I found our next target, just confirmed that he has a palace of his own.**

**Shiho: What?! How?**

**Akira: So I crashed into Ren and their friends. **

**Akira: I followed them to Memento, which basically is a massive maze with shadows.**

**Akira: Then they changed someone's heart and he mentioned about a man called Madarame, which took everything from him or some sort.**

**Akira: I just online searched the Madarame and double-checked it with Meta-nav, it's a hit.**

**Shiho: Madarame? You mean that famous painter?**

**Akira: Yep, it's him.**

**Shiho: Ok... Let me check on Meta-nav for a sec.**

**Shiho: NO WAY!**

**Shiho: So he does have a real palace, but we need to find the other keywords.**

**Akira: I know, but mid-term is next Wednesday.**

**Akira: Let's start our investigation after that.**

**Shiho: OK.**

**Akira: Speaking of mid-term, Ann requested me to help her tomorrow in the family restaurant in Shibuya.**

**Akira: Do you know where is it?**

**Shiho: Oh! You mean that one, how about I walk you and Ann there tomorrow?**

**Akira: Of course! Thanks, Shiho!**

**Akira: You're the best!**

**Shiho: Always. ;)**

With that, texting between them ended. Akira put the phone on his table and continued his research on Madarame, jotting any interesting point in his notebook. However, his mind soon shifted its focus on something else.

"...So who when will Mitsuru-San send that 'someone' to help me?" He murmured while looking through the notes he jotted down. "Let's hope that it'll be sooner than I thought..."

* * *

[8th May, morning]

"Wait, the restaurant is here the whole time?!" Akira exclaimed with wide eyes as Shiho walked him to the family restaurant in the main street, mentally facepalming. "I'm such an idiot..."

"Don't tell me that you've missed it for more than one time." Ann looked at him with a suspicious glance, narrowing her eyes. "This is so obvious!"

"Not that obvious to me... I think."

"Ann, Akira has never been here you know?" Shiho said while turning to face the blonde girl. "It's normal for anyone who expects a family restaurant to be as big as that anime about the restaurant!"

"It's call 'Wagnaria!'." Akira replied while deadpanning, looking at Shiho with an unimpressed face. "You've never watched it?"

"Nope." She replied, shaking her head. "I have other things to do..."

The brown-haired boy shrugged at her answer. "Ann, we're only gonna help you for the mid-term, right?" He turned to Ann and questioned, raising his eyebrow.

"Ugh... Actually..." She awkwardly laughed, avoiding his confused glance. "I called Ryuji here as well."

Akira just shook his head in response. "Great..." He murmured, gesturing them to enter the restaurant.

After finding a place which is enough for five people, Akira ordered coffee and took out the notes he jotted down for the exam. Noticing the two other boys approaching, he waved at them and let them join.

"OK, now everyone is here. Let's start with Math." Seeing that everyone had taken out their own note and books, he announced to everyone. "If you have any questions, just ask me."

With that said, the five Shujin students started their study session for the upcoming mid-term.

"My brain is fired..." Ryuji murmured in defeat before suddenly slamming his head to the table, taking everyone by surprise.

"Any question needed?" Akira questioned, raising an eyebrow. "I'm here to help."

"Everything..." The blonde boy straightened from the table, sighing. "This is too complicated..."

"Well then..." The brown-haired boy sighed, drinking his coffee. "I'll try my best to help you with this."

* * *

_About another hour later..._

"Finally..." Ann breathed, stretching in exhaustion. "I'm done!"

"I'm done too... in another sense." Ryuji said, slamming his head on the table again.

"Ryuji, you don't have to be like that." Akira sweatdropped, trying to reassure him that everything is OK. "It's just mid-term."

"That's the worse part!" He exclaimed, sounding muffled as his head was still on the table.

Ren patted his shoulder sympathetically, "I know... At least you have Ann with you."

"Wha- No!" Ann retorted, pouting at him. "I'm better than Ryuji! At least!"

"No, you're pretty much the same as him." Shiho plainly said while peeking at her work. "You're bad at anything aside of English!"

"Told you so." Akira added, shrugging.

"Yeah, you're bad at anything aside of English." Ryuji also added, observing her work with a raised eyebrow.

Seeing that Ann's temper was going to lose itself, Akira quickly announced to everyone. "Hey! Let's take a break, shall we?"

Before anyone else can reply to him, Shiho quickly nodded. "Yeah! Let's take a break before continuing!" She cheerfully said, giving a signal to Ryuji.

thankfully, Ryuji got the message from her and rubbed his head awkwardly. "Yeah! Let's eat first, we must be hungry from studyin' for this long."

Ann noticed the faces from them and sighed, decided to let them go this time. They ordered some food and started to eat.

"Hey Akira," Ryuji said, looking at him with an interested look. "I've been wonderin'..."

"Since Ren and I had hung out with Ann for a while, where are you and Shiho in the meantime?"

"Us?" Akira and Shiho said in unison, looking at each other. "Ugh..."

"I just continue my part-time job with Iwai-San in Untouchable." He lied, turning back to the blonde boy.

"I didn't have any practice since the confession, so I just went back home instead." She also lied, shrugging in the process.

"Um... I guess it's better for both of you after the confession." Ryuji shrugged, turning his focus back to the food in front of him.

"I guess..." They said in unison again, sighing.

* * *

[9th May, Afterschool]

Akira was ready to leave the school, considering the choice to walk Shiho home while walking in the corridor of the second floor. But then a large group of girls suddenly appeared and blocked his way.

But then, the whisper from the group caught his attention.

_"Another transfer... But he's so handsome!"_

_"He's a mixed blood too, just like Takamaki!"_

_"I heard that he's from France!"_

_"He was asking for Ichijou... Weird."_

"What the-" His word was interrupted as his phone buzzed unexpectedly in his pocket. "Perfect timing, just great..."

He took out the phone and checked who's texting him, it's Mishima.

**Mishima: Hey! I have some info for you!**

**Mishima: Since you've said that you're not a part of them, I decided to message both you and Amamiya!**

**Akira: Huh? OK then...**

**Mishima: I saw it in the Phan-Site, but I've heard about it at school too.**

**Akira: It's the bullying incident?**

**Mishima: Yes! the guy had gone way too far...**

**Mishima: I can't help the victim by myself, but I went ahead and posted on the forum that the Phantom Thieves are coming for him though.**

**Akira: Well, thanks. I'll look into it.**

**Mishima: Thanks, dude! You're amazing!**

**Akira: Oh wait, I had something on my mind.**

**Akira: You didn't expose me to Ren, right?**

**Mishima: Yeah, but why?**

**Akira: It's... complicated.**

**Akira: back to business, what is that bully's name?**

**Mishima:** **Takanashi Daisuke. He's the brown-haired guy who always seen standing out in front of the school entrance.**

**Mishima: Just make sure that no one knows I told you that name!**

**Akira: 120% Got it.**

With that, Akira put his phone back into his pocket and decided to find Shiho to discuss this case. However, the presence of the large group still stopped him from getting to the staircase.

Knowing that he couldn't force his way through, he approached one girl in the group and asked. "Um... Hey, what's going on?"

"Oh! Ichijou-Senpai!" The girl exclaimed, pointing at him for some reason. "Kamisaki-Sanpai! He's the one you're looking for!"

"Kamisaki?" Akira was totally confused when the group of girls suddenly split into two rows, revealing the boy on the other side. He was a second-year student, tieing a dark blue sports jacket around his waist with his standard jacket missing. He was also blonde hair with dark blue eyes.

"Oh, you must be Akira Ichijou." Kamisaki politely greeted while walking up to him, Taking his hand to a handshake. "I am Keigo Kamisaki, Captain Kirijo sent me to this school to assist you."

"Huh?!" Taken back by his word, Akira took a step before replying. "So... You're the one..."

"Akira! Finally found-" And out of nowhere, Shiho appeared behind the two and walked up to them with a confused expression. "Who is he?"

"Uh..." Akira stammered for a moment before answering. "He's Keigo Kamisaki, someone sent Mitsuru-San to help us on the other-worldly business."

"Kirijo-San sent him to help us?" She repeated, tilting her head. "You didn't tell me that."

"I guess it's Mr. Ichijou's fault, Miss Suzui." Keigo politely said, bowing a bit to her. "By the way, I'm actually not fully transferred to Shujin."

"I'll officially be transferred to hereafter the mid-term. today's just my register day." He leaned closer to the two, keeping his volume low. "But maybe we should go somewhere... a bit more private to discuss the business about the Metaverse."

Sweatdropped, Akira looked at Shiho for a response. Shiho nodded and suggested. "Maybe we should go to the rooftop, I think the other group won't use it today."

"I guess..." Akira shrugged, leading the trio to the staircase toward the rooftop.

* * *

A/N:

With that,chapter 11 of P5: Another Thief conclude! Thank you for reading!

Memento was officially introduced to this story, and the second OC of this story- Keigo Kamisaki was also introduced! His Persona and backstory(sort of) will be revealed in the next chapter!

But on the other hand, I'm sorry for delaying Yusuke's introduction to the next chapter.

Anyway, I hope you would enjoy this story so far, reviews are welcome!


	12. Chapter 12: New peoples

[The door to the Rooftop]

Leading both Shiho and Keigo, Akira reached the door toward the rooftop. However, the sight of Ren and his group on the other side caused them to hid behind the door, sitting down at the ground.

"Not again..." Akira sighed, looking down at the ground. "Um... Kamisaki-San, sorry about that."

"It's fine." Keigo shrugged, smiling reassuringly to him. "They are the other group of the Phantom thieves, right?"

"Yep. They're the actual people who changed Kamoshida's heart." Shiho nodded, crossing her arms in front of her. "So Kamisaki, you said you're from the 'Shadow Operatives'... Can you explain what the hell is that?"

"About the Shadow Operatives..." The mixed-blooded boy rubbed his head, pondering for the proper explanation to them. "They're an unofficial and secret department of the Japan Police, backed by the Kirijo Group."

"Secret department..." Akira murmured, rubbing his chin. "Mitsuru-San is the leader, right?"

"Yes, she founded this department after the Apathy Syndrome incident." He nodded in response. "Our purpose is to hunt down shadow and deal with anything Persona related incident."

Sighing, Keigo continued to explain. "But recently, with the intervene of someone with a high position in society forced us to stay away. We couldn't do anything to deal with the mental breakdown incident."

"OK then... Let's get to the real business." The brown-haired boy nodded at his words, taking out his phone. "Mishima, or the admin of Phan-Site gave me some info about a small target for us."

"You already have a Persona, right?" He asked, turning to Keiko. "I'm interested to see yours."

"I don't need an evoker, right?" Keigo asked, raising an eyebrow. "I brought it here, just in case."

"Evoker? We had never heard about it." Shiho replied, tilting her head in confusion. "Akira, do you what is that?"

"Nah, I don't know about it either," Akira said, opening his Meta-nav. "Daisuke Takanashi, Memento."

**"Destination found, beginning navigation."**

* * *

[Memento, enterance]

"Wow..." Swan murmured to herself, widening her eyes at the sight of the distorted subway station. "This is huge!"

"Yes, and this is just the first of god know how many area." Jester turned to Keiko, observing his Metaverse outfit. "Hmm... Your outfit reminds me of someone from France..."

Keiko's Shuijin's outfit was changed into a dark-blue single-breasted woolen coat with a white collar with a pair of black leather gloves, a black triangular hat with silver lining along the edges. Not only that, he was wearing a plain blue Colombina mask on his face.

"Huh?" He raised an eyebrow at Jester's reaction before finally realizing his outfit had changed. "Wha- Wow! This looks cool!"

"Fit you." Swan laughed, covering her mouth. "By the way, what is your Persona?"

"Just touch the mask on your face to summon it," Jester added, summoning Moriarty to show him an example.

Nodding, the mixed blooded boy touched his mask and summon his Persona. It's a man with a mask similar to Keiko's covering his face, resembling a General back in 17th century France with its coat-like torso. Also, it was wearing a black felt bicorne. But what's the most interesting is that it was infused with the black horse it was riding. It was also holding the lead around the horse's mouth with its left hand while holding a longsword with its other hand.

"This is my Persona... **Napoleon**." He introduced with a calm expression. "I have this for a few months now."

On the other hand, Jester nodded in interest at the sight of his Persona. "Hmm... That's cool."

"I can't wait to see what it's power is." Swan nodded and turned to their leader. "Jester, about his codename... do you have any suggestions?"

"Codename..." He pondered for a moment, crossing his arms in front of himself. "Ugh... how about King? Napoleon was a king after all."

"King... that's a good suggestion." She nodded, turning her attention to Keiko. "What do you think, Kamisaki-Kun?"

"I think 'Roi' can be a better codename." He replied instantly, "It's just 'King' in Franch."

"That does fit you." Jester nodded. "I have no objection about it."

"'Roi', that's good!" Swan exclaimed with a grin on her face. "So that's settled!"

"With that said, let's not wait for any longer." Keiko, now Roi said while stretching his arms. "Shall we?"

"Of course." The leader nodded, leading the other two inside the dark tunnel.

The trio of Le Fool ran and dodged a lot of shadows, only battles with those spotted them or have to fight. Thanks to the now move from Roi, their speed, and damages were better than before. They reached the supposed portal to the shadow of Takanashi.

"I think this is the portal to Takanashi's shadow," Jester said, pulling out his phone to check the Meta-nav. "At least according to the nav."

"I hope this won't be like that fight with Kamoshida before..." Swan sighed, resting both of her hands to her hips. "Right?"

"With the three of us, this would be a piece of cake," Roi smirked slightly, resting his hand to the handle of his longsword. "Let's finish this, shall we."

With a nod, Jester jumped to the portal with the other two following him. On the other side of the portal, there's only a figure standing in the center of the room. He was wearing a normal Shijun outfit, facing away from the trio. Even though a tiny bit unsettled by him, they approached the shadow, weapons ready.

"You must be Daisuke Takanashi," Jester announced with a serious tone, gripping his scythe. "You know, many people had suffered because of you."

The shadow snickered, turning around to face them. "It's not my fault! It's theirs for not standing up for themselves!"

"Still making excuse for your action..." Swan glared at the shadow, readying her saber. "How it's their fault when you don't even give them a choice!"

"Bully those who are weaker than you... Pathetic." Roi murmured to himself, pulling out his longsword. "You're the lowest of the low."

Takanashi was furious at the sight of the three thieves' words and exclaimed, "The hell! You're all ganging up on me! Are you Phantom Thieves some kind of gang!"

"Protectors of justice, my ass! Don't act high and mighty with me when you don't know anything!" He shouted and merged with the black goo around him, changing to a Jack Frost. "I already told you, I didn't do anything wrong... Listen to me, dammit!"

"Seems like negotiation were unsuccessful." Jester plainly said, playing with his scythe. "Let's finish this."

"Persona!" With no other word, he rushed in front of the snowman and sliced it with his scythe before summoning Moriarty, casting a Garula on it.

"Napoleon! Frei!" Roi followed, sending a burst of nuclear attack to the snowman.

Stumbled back for a few steps, Jack Frost Punched Jester with a lucky punch, knocking him down. Taking this as its opportunity, it cast an Evil Touch on Roi, causing him to in fear.

"Dammit!" Roi cursed as he watched his hands shaking, only to be knocked back by the Stomach Blow from the shadow.

"Jeanne!" Seeing the situation worsen, Swan ripped her mask off and sliced the shadow with Giant Slice, then healed her two teammates. "Requiem of Rebellion!"

"Thanks..." Jester murmured as he felt the injuries of him slowly started to disappear, getting back up from the ground and pulled out his revolver. "Moriarty! Fire!"

Moriarty shot a bullet from his revolver in unison with his revolver, the two bullets hit the shadow straight on the head, knocking it down. Seeing this as their opportunity, the trio rushed in and pointed their guns to it with Roi using his evoker as an actual gun.

"I didn't do anything wrong!" The shadow shouted, glaring at Jester specifically. "It's not my fault!"

"I hate talking senses into someone, especially someone stubborn like you" Jester looked at his companions and nodded, taking a step back before jumping high in the air.

"Everyone! Let's do this!" With the command from him, the trio attacked the shadow from every angle possible with great speed. Beating the shadow in the process.

The shadow dissolved into another pile of black goo before appearing as Takanashi again, looking down in defeat. "B-But if I don't fo it, they're gonna hurt me. I don't want people taking my money from me anymore!" He stammered.

"Huh?" Swan looked at him with a confused look, tilting her head. "What do you mean?"

"If I don't go after him, I'm the one who's gonna get bullied!" Takanashi shouted, tears started to form in his eyes. "I can't take it, I just can't!"

"So you're a victim as well." Roi sighed, crossing his arms. "There's someone behind all of this."

"Even though you're our original target, we'll help you too," Jester said, putting his scythe on the back. "We're not some heartless monster like the one behind all of this,"

"Thank you! Oh, thank you, you wonderful phantom thieves!" The shadow exclaimed in joy at Jester's word, causing the trio to sweatdrop.

"That escalated quickly," Swan commented, wiping the sweat on her face.

"I'm counting on you..." He said with a faint smile, being slowly absorbed by a white light. "You guys promised."

"We know, just apologize those people you bullied," Roi replied.

The shadow nodded before fully absorbed by the white light, leaving a protein left. Jester picked it up and observed it.

"Job done." He smiled, taking out his notebook and wrote something before ripping a page off. "I'll leave a message to Joker, let them know there's a bigger bully behind all of this."

"They'll be disappointed, for sure." Swan joked, but shifted to a serious tone quickly afterward. "Maybe we should leave the treasure to them."

"At least they'll have something in return." Roi agreed with a nod.

"Well, it's not like that we're short on medicine." the leader of Le Fool shrugged, putting the Protein with the page beside it. "So, continue or leave?"

"I think we should leave." The white thief suggested with a nod from her teammate. "We still got Madarame to investigate."

"You're right." After a moment of pondering, the trio left the portal and the Memento afterward.

_A short while later..._

"We're here," Joker said, hopping out from the bat van. "...Wait, where's the shadow?"

"Mona," Panther asked, tilting her head in confusion. "Are you sure that the target is here?"

"Yes! I'm sure about that!" Mona, now turned back into his 'cat' from exclaimed, still in disbelief of what is going on. "Either there's something wrong about my senses, or someone else defeated it already-"

"Wait, there's somethin' there!" Skull interrupted him, pointing at the protein and a piece of note on the ground.

The leader raised an eyebrow at the paper and the protein on the ground and picked it up. "Dear Phantom Thief of Heart..." He read out loud.

"We apologize for your wasted trip to here, we've just defeated the shadow a short while before. The protein is the Treasure of that shadow. Also, Takanashi told us that there's a bigger bully behind him. We'll leave that case for you..." Joker raised an eyebrow at the words on the note. "From the other Phantom Thief of Heart- Le Fool."

"Le Fool? Who the hell is that?" Skull questioned, rubbing his head.

"Maybe it's Jester's group!" Panther suggested, crossing her arms. "Skull told us that he has a partner, right?"

"Yeah! I remember that she's called Swan." He nodded, turning to their leader. "Joker, what do you think 'bout that?"

"They said there's a bigger bully behind Takanashi. Maybe we can look into it." The leader said calmly, putting the note and the protein in his pocket. "With that said, let's do some shadow killing before going back."

"Whatever." The other three said unison, getting back out from the sperate room to the maze, killing some more shadow before returning to the real world.

* * *

[A hour later, Big Bang burger.]

After the fight with Takanashi's shadow, the trio decided to crash into Big Bang Burger to have a meal together. Ordering three Big Bang Challenge since they're curious about it.

"Hey, Kamisaki, Shiho," Akira said while waiting for the burger to come. "I noticed something during our visit to Memento... You two are so calm with the whole 'I'm in another world' thingy."

"Ugh..." Keigo pondered for a moment before answering. "As a member of the Shadow Operative, it's almost normal for these situations."

"I can see that." The brown-haired boy nodded, turning his head toward the girl. "But Shiho, about you..."

"You're here with me, why would I be scared?" She answered in a heartbeat, not realizing what she'd just said. "Nothing would scare me as long as you're here with me!"

"Huh?" It took Akira a few long seconds before noticing the underlining of her word, blushing hard. "S-So... It's because of me?"

"Yeah, what's wrong-" Shiho interrupted herself, also blushing hard as she finally realized the undertone of her words. "T-That's not what I mean! I mean it on a friend's standpoint!"

"That's still too much from a friend's standpoint." Keigo sighed at the sight of those two, pinching his nosebridge. "Just drop it, OK? It's going on a direction that we don't want to go."

"..." They coughed in unison, agreed to drop this topic without a word said. "Um... I think we should worry about Madarame first, even though the mid-term exam is more immediate for us."

"I researched a bit more after confirming that there's a palace for him," Shiho said, recovered from the awkwardness. "He lived in a shack to 'stay away from money or materialistic lifestyle'."

"Shack... maybe it's the location of his palace." Akira nodded, taking out his phone and opened Meta-Nav. "Ichiryusai Madarame, shack."

The app 'beeped in confirmation, earning a raised eyebrow from everyone.

"Even though I don't know how to go to 'a palace', but it means it's a hit, right?" Keigo asked, eyes darting between the two.

"Yeah, I think so." The other boy nodded.

"Now we just need his view on the shack and the sin." The pony-tailed girl added. "For Kamoshida was 'Prevert' and 'Castle', but it's a completely different story for Madarame now."

"Hmm... Interesting." Keigo murmured, nodding. "Kirijo-San would be happy to hear this."

"You're going to report to Mitsuru-San?" Akira asked, tilting his head.

"Of course, I have to report to her once every week."

"Good luck with you, Kamisaki."

"Please, just call me Keiko." He requested.

Before the two can answer, a waiter approached them. "Thank you for taking the Big Bang Challenge." She said, interrupting the trio.

"Oh, it's here," Akira commented, stretching his arms.

"This is your first time, yes?" Seeing the nod from them, the waiter continued. "You're starting ranking will be Third Mate."

"Thus, your aim will be... the Comet Burger!"

"The Comet Burger?" They asked in unison, confused and not prepared for what's coming for them.

Three trays were served to them afterward, each has a huge burger which was about three-fourths of the size of the tray itself with a thickness of a normal burger. The trio sweatdropped at the sight of this humongous burger in front of them, even the customers next to them were surprised at the sight of it, watching them and cheering in the process.

"This is... not what I expected." Akira coughed, starting to regret the decision of attending this challenge. "This is huge..."

"This burger is as voluminous as a soaring comet burning in the sky. It will not be overcome easily." The waiter said. "But should you conquer this challenge, you will be rewarded with an extravagant prize."

"I can see that..." Shiho murmured, observing the burger in every angle possible.

"At least we got something good for only 500 yen, am I right?" Keigo questioned while looking at the other two, seeking a response from them.

"Let's hope that the prize is good enough for this." The browned-haired boy swallowed, mentally readying for the challenge.

The waiter nodded, "Well then, it's time to get the thirty-minute Big Bang Challenge started! Ready..."

"Wait, thirty-minutes?!" The trio shouted in unison, turning to each other in fear.

"...Que Dieu nous aide('May God help us' in French)." Keigo murmured, gripping the side of the burger.

"Go!" With that said, they immediately got themselves to eat. thanks for the battle a short while ago, they're hungry enough for the whole burger. But the thirty-minutes limit is the big obstacle to step over. They fought and fought, not caring to taste the burger. Drinking the cola to prevent them from choking in the process.

'There's a whole head of lettuce in here!' Akira thought, eating as fast as he can.

'It's already cold!' Shiho thought, not even bother to chew before swallowing.

After a long battle which lasted for thirty minutes, both Akira and Keigo weren't able to finish the challenge, leaving about one-fourth of the burger. Meanwhile, Shiho somehow ate the whole thing!

"I-I did it!" She exclaimed in joy, exhausted from the battle. "Somehow!"

"...Didn't expect that." Akira murmured, collapsing on the table.

"Wow." Keigo plainly commented, also slumping on the table.

"Congratulations on completing this challenge!" The waiter came back and congregated Shiho. "Since you managed to extinguish the Comet Burger... I present to you the 2nd Mate Badge!"

She took the badge from the waiter's hand and observed it. "It looks cool!"

"New challenge will await you now that you've become a Second Mate!" The waiter continued. "I look forward to your next attempt at our challenge!"

"..." The trio looked at each other awkwardly, not sure about whether attempting the challenge after this or not.

"Let's continue our investigation after the mid-term." Akira suddenly said, taking out his phone. "Let's exchange our number, I'll make a group chat tonight."

"Yeah." Keigo nodded and took out his phone, exchanging their number.

* * *

[11th May, Morning]

The day was here, the mid-term exam of Shujin began. Akira, Ren, and Ann were sat on their spot, staring at the paper in front of them.

Akira was confident enough that he'll get a pass, internally hoping that Ann and Ryuji would also pass. Taking a deep breath, he waited for the announcement.

Inui-Sensei glanced at the clock behind him and turned back toward the students. "Now then, let the first day of exams begin!" He announced.

They all immediately opened the exam paper in front of them, answering question after question. twisting the pen in his hand, Akira fluently chose the answer for each question, knowing that most of them would be correct.

Ren looked at the question in front of him, memories for some lessons before surfaces in his head. 'Although the line connects A to C, it looks like it leads to B instead. What is this phenomenon called?' He read, pondering for a moment. 'An Optical Illusion.'

"That sounds about right." Morgana whispered encouragingly.

On the other hand, Ann was struggling with the questions for her. 'If how they're seeing things is different, it probably has to do with this kind of information...' She thought, scanning through the options given.

'Auditory information... Personal information... Visual information...' She pondered, the memories of the study session with Akira slowly started to surface in her mind.

_"Ann, if you're seeing things is different, which information is related to this?"_

_"Ugh... Personal information?"_

_"Are you serious? How would that be related to PERSONAL INFORMATION!"_

_"I just guessed it!"  
_

_"You're SEEING things differently! It's obvious that it's with Visual information!"_

_"Wha- Shiho! Am I really this stupid?"_

_"I guessed it within a heartbeat."_

_"Even I can get this right! You're so bad Ann!"_

_"Shuddup Ryuji!"_

"Oh yeah, visual information..." The blonde murmured, cringing at the memories of that. "Let's move on."

* * *

[two days later...]

"All right, all pencils down!" Chouno-sensei voiced out, collecting the exam paper from everyone and left the room.

"Finally... one more day to go!" Akira exclaimed, stretching his arms in relief. "Ann, how's yours?"

"I think I can get more subjects to pass this time!" She happily replied, slapping her hand. "Thanks, Akira, you're a lifesaver!"

"Well, if you don't revision those note I gave you, you'll fail anyway." The brown-haired boy joking said, shrugging in the process. "It's your effort after all."

"Owww, you're such a big softie."The blond girl smiled, turning to Ren. "Hey Ren, how is yours?"

"Me?" He questioned, pointing at himself before smirking faintly. "Sorry, but that's a secret."

"Secret...huh." Akira shrugged, crossing his arms. "Confident for your result, typical you."

"Always." Ren said before standing up from his seat, picking up his bag. "Akira, coming with us?"

"No thanks." He politely refused, smiling faintly. "I have something else to do with Shiho."

"Something else with Shiho?" Ann repeated with a teasing smirk, placing her hand around his shoulder. "Are you two going for a date?"

"NO! Come on!" The brown-haired boy's calm exterior instantly vanished, blushing hard from her word. "I just wants to walk her home!"

"Walk her home~~?" Ren joined the teasing, smirking further. "That sounds like something a couple would do.."

"C-Come on!" Seeing that he's not going to win against the two, Akira sighed and turned around. "Fine! I'm going now!"

With that said, he walked away and left the classroom, leaving the two behind. Walking down the hallway of the second floor, he reached the class 2-B.

"I just want to walk me home, nothing too personal." He internally said to himself, coughing to calm himself down. "Just calm down, Akira Ichijou."

He pushed open the door and asked loudly. "Ugh... Is Shiho here?"

The whole class stopped as he talks, an awkward silence covered everyone. Until someone turned toward Shiho, who was sitting at the corner's seat.

"Suzui, your boyfriend come for you." She plainly said, causing Shiho to blush hard.

"We're just friends for a long time, nothing more." The pony-tailed girl murmured, picking up her bag and rushed to Akira. "J-Just go!" She exclaimed.

Akira awkwardly coughed again and followed her. "...I'm sorry 'bout that."

"..." She sighed, turning back to face him. "Just don't do that again, OK?"

"Of course..."

* * *

[The next day, Shibuya station.]

After messaging both Keigo and Shiho to meet at Shibuya station after school today, Akira continued his walk toward the school. But then, someone suddenly poked his shoulder and caused him to jump.

"AAA!" He shouted, only to be stopped by a familiar voice from behind.

"Dude! Calm down!" It was Ryuji's voice.

The brown-haired boy turned around and saw that the trio of The Phantom was here. "Uh... hey guys."

"Hey, Akira." Ren greeted. "Let's walk together to school?"

"Of course." He nodded, following the trio to the school.

However, Ann was weirdly quiet throughout the whole trip, it seems like that she's scared for something with her. Akira noticed that almost immediately.

"Ann, something's wrong?" He asked with a worrying glance, frowning.

After a few seconds of hesitation, Ann nodded. "I felt like... someone's following me."

"A stalker, huh?" Ren looked at Ryuji, who was yawning in exhaustion. "Come on Ryuji, at least act like you care."

"Fine..." The ex-runner sighed, rubbing his head. "Come on."

"Huh?" Ann and Akira looked at each other in confusion, but seeing that Ren was following him, they decided to follow them as well.

After a short walk, they reached the escalator toward the exit to the school. Ryuji turned around and explained. "Kay, so just stand there until the pervert gets close." He said, pointing at the exit. "Then we'll stop him."

"We should confront him." Ren agreed, pushing his glasses.

"I don't know is this the best way, but it's the only solution for now." Akira sighed and gave the blonde girl an apologetic look.

"...Fine." Ann nodded jerkily, pursing her lips.

They then walked to the side, waiting for the stalker to approach Ann with her standing stiffly in the meantime.

Hearing a pair of footsteps coming, she clenched her bag hard and felt her heart rate increase. Hearing that the stalker was close enough to touch her, she turned around.

Seeing this as the signal, the three boys came up and stopped him. Ren and Ryuji were glaring at him while Akira was giving him a softer look.

It was a boy with a uniform they don't recognize, A silver ring, that holds multiple keys, is attached to his belt loop. He also has dark blue hair with parted bangs slightly covering his left eye and gray eyes.

The four blinked, looking at him with confusion.

"Hey, uh...are you sure it's him? Or are you just that self-conscious." Ryuji questioned quietly, turning toward Ann.

"...Uh, hello." Akira awkwardly greeted the boy, waving his hand slightly. "No offense but... why are you following our friend?"

Before Ann can answer Ryuji's question, the boy suddenly talked. "Is there something you want?" He asked politely, ignoring Akira's question.

"That's my line!" Ann shouted indignantly, pointing directly at his face with fury. "You were the one stalking me!"

"Stalking you..? That's outrageous." He blinked for a few times before, giving her an unimpressed look, brushing his bang to the side.

With her anger growing even larger, the model took a step closer, still pointing at him. "I know you've been following me! Ever since the train!"

"Ugh... Please calm down, Ann." Akira whispered to her, sweatdropping as he saw both Ren and Ryuji wer glaring at him. "It's Ok as long as we talk this out."

"NO!" Ann's response was only a furious shout, causing him to take a step back. "It was you, wasn't it?! Even before today!"

"That's because…" The boy trailed off, looking away from her.

A car horn suddenly interrupted them, a dark luxurious car approached them, stopping at the side of the road. The front seat window rolled down, revealing an elderly man with a low ponytail. He was also wearing a homely looking kimono.

"My goodness...I had wondered why you left the car. So this is where your passion lead." The man said, giving them a natural smile. "All is well that ends well."

"No way..." Akira blinked, recognizing him. 'It's Madarame!' He thought, covering his mouth.

"I saw you from the car...and I couldn't help myself from chasing after you." The boy suddenly confessed, holding a loosely clenched hand in front of his chest. "I didn't even notice the calls from Sensei...But thank goodness, I caught up to you."

"OK..." Ann sweatdropped, looking unsure for what to do.

"What?" Ryuji looked at Ren, totally confused.

Ren just shrugged unsurely in response.

"You're the woman I've been searching for all this time!" The boy's tone suddenly changed to be filled with pride, causing Ann to blush furiously. "Please, won't you-"

"W-Wait a minute, I-" She stammered, taking a step back.

"H-Hey! I know Ann was very beautiful and stuff, but we just met you-" Akira frantically yelled, stepping close to the stranger.

The boy swept his arm out dramatically. "-Be the model for my next art piece?!"

"...Model?" The brown-haired boy and Ren said in unison, looking at him with pure confusion.

"All that I've drawn till now has been lacking, but I feel a passion from you unlike anything else." He explained, looking at her pleadingly.

"This man's highly suspicious!" Morgana suddenly hissed, staring at the boy with an intense glare.

"Ain't this a recruit for some shady business?" Ryuji took a step closer, glancing at him with suspicion.

The stranger ignored their words, holding a hand out theatrically. "Will you cooperate with me? What do you say?"

Ryuji wanted to step in and interrogate him, but Akira stopped him with the question in his mind. "Ugh... We don't know you, you know."

"Oh, where are my manners?" The boy blinked for a moment before straightened his posture. "I'm a second-year at Kosei High's fine-arts division. My name is Yusuke Kitagawa."

"Kay..." The brown-haired boy trailed off.

"I'm Madarame-sensei's pupil, and I am being allowed residence at his place." He continued to explain. "'m striving to become an artist."

the trio's eyes widened at his word.

"Huh?! Do you mean THAT Madarame?" Ann questioned fervently. "The one who was on 'Good Morning Japan' the other day?"

Ren raised an eyebrow at the mention of Madarame. 'Is he the one...?'

"The very same." Yusuke nodded.

"Yusuke!" Madarame suddenly called out as the car was waiting for him.

"!" He gasped and turned toward the older painter. "I'm sorry, Sensei. I'll be right there!"

Turning back toward the four, Yusuke took out four tickets and handed to them "Madarame-sensei's exhibition will begin at the department store near the station tomorrow. I'll be there to help out on opening day. Please come by. It'd be great if you could give me your answer in regard to being a model then."

"Please, accept these tickets!"

The four took the ticket with hesitation with Akira remembered that both Shiho and Keiko, he turned to Yusuke and politely asked. "Um... Kitagawa-San, can you give me two more tickets? I have some friends that would be interested in fine art."

The painter perked up. "Ugh..." With a hesitant nod, he gave two more tickets to the brown-haired boy. "I hope that your friends will truly appreciate fine art"

"I think they will." He took the extra tickets with a smile, bowing politely.

"Well then, I hope to see you there tomorrow!" Yusuke nowed, turning and entered the car.

Seeing that car drove away down the road, Akira sighed. "That escalated quickly."

"That guy's as easy to read as a book…"Ryuji remarked, kicking the ground while turning toward the model. "You're not plannin' on goin', are you?"

"I mean, he's been stalkin' you for how long? Weeks?"

After a few moments of hesitation, she looked down and answered. "...I think I will."

The three boys just stared at her in shock.

Before Ann could explain further, Akira took out his phone and noticed the time. "Great, we're gonna be late!" He ran off in the direction of Shujin, with others following him after.

* * *

And with that, chapter 12 of P5: Another Thief concludes! thank you for reading!

First, there's going to be some changes to the update rate to this fic. Since school is right around the corner, this fic will turn from 2-4 days for a chapter to a weekly update, hoping for an update every weekend.

However, with the arc of Madarame's palace is the next chapter's focus! Since the palace is larger and with the three events(going to the shack) during the infiltration. It'll not be finished in one chapter like Kamoshida's palace.

Hope you would enjoy this story so far, reviews are welcome!


	13. Chapter 13: Exhibition of Plagiarism

[14th May, after school, Shibuya station]

Once the exam was finished, Akira immediately messaged both Shiho and Keigo, calling a meet up at Shibuya station.

[Le Fool's group chat]

**Akira: Umm... everyone, I got something big information about Madarame, let's meet up at Shibuya station.**

**Shiho: OK, but how did you get that?**

**Keigo: I was wondering that as well.**

**Akira: I was with Ren and others in the morning, and we kinda met a pupil of Madarame.**

**Akira: His name is Yusuke Kitagawa. **

**Keigo: OK, I'm searching for information about him right now.**

**Akira: But... there's one thing.**

**Akira: He requested Ann to be the model for his next painting.**

**Shiho: Wait what?! **

**Akira: I think he got no weird intention... at least I hope so.**

**Shiho: If he's going to do anything to Ann, I'm going to use him as my training target of my spike!**

**Keigo: Um... That's scary.**

**Akira: Please calm down, Shiho...**

**Akira: I'll pick you up at the front gate, OK?**

**Shiho: OK.**

After waiting for her for a few minutes, Akira greeted Shiho and walked together to the station, gathering with Keigo. The leader of Le Fool took out the tickets from his pocket and handed it to the two.

"I got it from Kitagawa-San." He explained, sighing in the process. "The exhibition is starting soon, maybe we can get more evidence and lead about Madarame."

"OK." The two said in unison, examing the ticket.

"Um... Akira, I've got some information about Kitagawa." Keigo said, taking out his phone to show them something. "He's the only pupil left for Madarame after many come and go. Not only that, one of Madarame's pupils actually... killed herself after leaving him."

"Huh?!" Shiho's eyes widened at his words, shivering as the memories resurface. "..."

Akira noticed her reaction and swiftly held her hand, squeezing it softly and reassuringly. Keigo also noticed Shiho's unusual reaction and remembered the attempt suicide incident before.

'I'm an idiot...' He internally cursed at himself, quickly changed the subject. "Um... I also found the third keyword of Madarame's palace, it's 'Plagiarism'."

Seeing that Shiho's expression soften, The brown-haired boy separated their hands. "'Plagiarism'... He's an artist, after all. This does suit him."

"Now we just need his view on the shack..." Shiho murmured, snapping out from her past. "We'll try to figure it out after the visit, OK?"

The two boys nodded in unison.

"So... Since there's still a lot of time left." Keigo suddenly suggested, eyes darting between the two. "How about that we go to somewhere else to kill some time?"

They looked at each other for a moment before nodded in unison. "Yeah, let's go somewhere else."

* * *

[a few minutes later, Big Bang Burger]

"Why are we here again?" Akira internally sighed, leaning back at his seat. "Please don't be another Big Bang Challenge..."

"This time is just a normal meal, Akira." Keigo deadpanned, crossing his arms. "Also Suzui, please don't flex that batch on us, it's stupid."

"Come on!" Shiho pouted, leaning toward the two. "That challenge was fun!"

"NO." The two boys said in unison, frowning in the process. "It's not fun at all!"

"You two are just jealous." She narrowed her eyes for a moment but compromised as the end. "Fine... Also, Keigo, please stop calling me by my last name."

"Now you've said that I can finally just call you Shiho..." Keigo asked.

"You can just ask me about that."

"I just forgot to ask you..."

Akira sighed at the two, turning his head toward elsewhere.

* * *

[15th May, morning, Shibuya station]

It was raining, cold breeze and rain were making the six Shujin students unintentionally shiver. Clenching his hand on the umbrella's handle, Akira, who now wears the blue hoodie he always wearing inside of his jacket and black jeans took out his phone and checked the map.

"We're almost there, everybody." He said to everyone, following the map's route. "But man, it's cold today."

"Yeah..." Ann sneezed suddenly, taking out a tissue to cover her mouth.

"too cold for me..." Ryuji shivered as another cold breeze passed him. "Man..."

"It's worse in France, you know." Keigo plainly said, earning a few glares from the girls. "Wha- It's a fact!"

"But why would you need to talk about this," Shiho said, quickly taking tissues from Ann's hand to cover her mouth when sneezing. "I should wear anything other than hot pants..."

"Once we reached the exhibition center, it'll be better," Ren reassured, shifting his hand inside of his pocket. "Just hurry up, everyone."

the group nodded in unison, walking toward the art exhibition center.

Once the group reached the exhibition center, slipping through the huge crowd of people rushing to the exhibition and checked their tickets. They were greeted by the man himself, Yusuke.

"You came!" He happily exclaimed at the sight of Ann, wearing a beige pinstriped sports jacket and a pink shirt underneath, he also had a pair of black slacks, black loafers covering his feet.

"Um... yeah." Ann awkwardly nodded, glancing at the other five behind her.

Ren pushed her glasses, light reflected it and hid his narrowed eyes. Ryuji kicked the ground with an annoyed look.

Yusuke saw the two boys behind her. "You really came," he repeated plainly, looks disappointed at their appearances.

"What'd you expect when you left us those tickets?!" Ryuji retorted, shoving his hand inside of his jacket.

"Come on, Ryuji. Be nice." Akira sighed disappointed at his attitude, stepping closer to Yusuke. "Hi, I forgot to properly introduce myself. I am Akira Ichijou, and they are my friends." He politely bowed, looking at Keigo and Shiho.

"Oh, hello." The painter's attitude swiftly changed from disappointment to politeness, observing the two behind.

Keigo was the first to greet him. "I am Keigo Kamisaki, nice to meet you."

"I am Shiho Suzui, nice to meet you too." The ex-volleyball player greeted with a more suspicious tone, staring at him for the whole time. "I'm also Ann's best friend."

"Nice to meet you." The blur-haired boy greeted them, flinching slightly at Shiho's tone. "Suzui-San, can I show you and your friends around? I'd like to speak more about the picture I'd like to draw too."

Ann nodded while the pony-tail girl turned to Akira with a raised eyebrow. He shrugged in response and said, "Just take care of Ann."

Shiho nodded and followed the Yusuke, leaving the four boys and one cat alone.

"Will Lady Ann be all right?!" Morgana poked his head out of the bag, not aware that Keigo and Akira were hearing his word. "What if he drags her behind some painting and tries something funny?" He said, fur sticking up in panic.

"Relax, Morgana." Ren murmured, turning to the cat behind him. "Ann would beat him if Kitagawa dares to lay a finger on her. Also, Shiho is here by her side."

"I told you not to come out!" Ryuji hissed at the cat. He moved back inside the bag, grumbling.

"Finish yet?" Akira deadpanned, crossing his arms.

"Yeah..." Ren and Ryuji looked at each other before decided to sperate for a moment. "Let's split up, you guys seem to be more interested in 'fine art' after all," Ryuji said, leading the fuzzy-haired boy to somewhere else.

Once their sight was gone from Akira and Keigo's eyes, they swiftly walked to another side of the exhibition, examining the painting.

"There's something wrong..." The mixed-blood boy murmured while observing the paintings, rubbing his chin. "The styles are too different from each other, how could Madarame paint them this well?"

"It's not possible for Madarame himself," Akira said, crossing his arms. "But remember, he had countless pupils before."

"So he uses his pupils as tools to produce paintings for him..." Keigo nodded, looking at his partner. "I had never thought about it but... Kitagawa could be in trouble right now."

"Yeah, I can see that." His partner nodded, taking out his phone to take a picture of the painting. "Maybe we could send these paintings to Chidori-San, she's a famous painter after all."

"Yeah!" Keigo exclaimed with widened eyes. "How could I not think about it..."

"Let's take some more photos." The brown-haired boy said, taking a picture of another photo. "If that's possible, we can give those paintings back to their respective owners."

Keigo nodded, secretly taking pictures of those paintings.

In the meantime, Ren and Ryuji were wandering around pointlessly, eyeing the paintings on the other side of the room.

"They're so different than each other." The fuzzy-haired boy noted, pushing his glasses. "This could not be painted by one person."

"Hm?" On the other hand, Ryuji noticed Madarame in his kimono, talking to the media. "It's him." He nudged Ren.

Ren noticed Madarame and the two walked closer to listen.

"We continue to be truly surprised by your imagination." The TV interviewer began with a modest smile. "You have such expansive styles, it's hard to believe that it all stems from one person... Where in the world does all your inspiration come from?"

Humming thoughtfully, Madarame answered to the microphone in front of him. "Well...It is rather difficult to put into words… They naturally well up from within my heart like bubbles rising one after another in a spring."

Ren narrowed his eyes at his response. 'Definitely fishy.'

The interviewer nodded thoughtfully in response. "Naturally, you say?"

The old artist nodded. "What's important is to distance oneself from worldly desires such as money and fame." He explained. "My atelier is a modest shack, but it is more than enough to pursue true beauty."

Ryuji blinked and turned to Ren. "...A shack?" He frowned.

The other boy just shrugged in return.

"I see...So the act of emptying one's mind gives rise to inner beauty. Still, to think we could hear the word 'shack' coming from the great artist Madarame." The interviewer nodded thoughtfully, giggling in the process.

"You would understand if you saw it."

"Wasn't the word "shack" somethin'..." Ryuji hummed, tapping his foot.

"Keyword?" Ren murmured with a raised eyebrow, getting a nod in response.

In all of a sudden, a woman ran up to the interview and caught the two teen's attention. "Madarame-san is actually here?!" She gasped.

Overhearing her sudden shout, more and more people ran up to Madarame, with Ren and Ryuji being squeezed in the middle of it.

"Over there!" A man called out.

"I'm so glad I came on opening day!" Another fangirl squealed.

"Hey, stop pushin'...!" Ryuji shouted, yelping in pain as someone accidentally hit him at the ribs.

Being squeezed out from the crowd, Ren got a hold of Ryuji's hoodie and pulled him out. Wincing in pain as purses and more things hit him in the face.

"There's way too many people!" The ex-runner shouted, grabbing onto his shoulder.

"I'm getting crushed…" Morgana wheezed in his bag, being squeezed by the crowd.

"Don't die on us, all right?!" Ryuji shouted.

Ren hesitantly nodded, pushing their way out with all his might.

* * *

Meantime, not noticing the crowd of people in the middle of the room. Yusuke, Ann, and Shiho were in the far corner of the exhibition, admiring a painting of a dark cat.

"I didn't know there were so many types of Japanese art." Ann marveled.

"Usually one concentrates on their own style," Yusuke explained, nodding understandingly. "However, Sensei creates all this by himself. He's special."

"I can see that." Shiho nodded, eyes darting between the cat painting and another one. "The paintings are soo different from each other..."

"There you are, Yusuke." Suddenly, the voice of Madarame rang behind all of them, catching their attention.

"Sensei!" The young painter bowed quickly.

The older painter's gaze shifted to Ann and Shiho. "Ah, the girl from yesterday. Are you two enjoying the exhibit?" He asked.

Ann nodded, smiling politely. "I don't know how to put it into words...but it's really amazing."

"The styles are so diverse, but still having the same energy in it." Shiho added, also smiling politely.

"You're sensing something from the artwork...That alone is enough to give us artists satisfaction." Madarame smiled with satisfaction. Stroking his beard, he turned to his pupil. "I hope this becomes a wonderful piece, Yusuke."

Yusuke looked to the side, inclining his head obediently.

"Well then, if you'll excuse me." Madarame nodded, taking his leave to another section of his exhibit.

"You'd imagine artists would be difficult to approach...but he seems really friendly." Ann blinked for a moment before grinning, playing with her ponytail. 'Is he really 'that Madarame'? I'm so confused...'

"Not all artists are difficult to approach," Shiho said, putting her hands in her sports jacket. "It's refreshing to see an artist this friendly."

"Indeed." The young painter nodded and smiled slightly.

The model turned around and observed another painting. A splatter of red and black mixed to each other, catching Ann and Shiho's attention. "Oh, this is it- the painting I wanted to see in person." The model gasped in joy.

The painting showed a mountain in a distance, covered by trees. The sky and sun were painted with red and black, clashing with the cooler colors of the mountains. A wave of negative emotion could be felt by the two, even though they had observed a single painting before.

"...This one?" Yusuke asked quietly while walking up to them, shoulder tensing.

"I guess it's the painter's anger? I'm not sure, but I sense this...strong frustration from it. To think such a cheerful and gentlemanly person could make such a piece…" Ann marveled, unaware of the young painter's discomfort.

However, Shiho noticed his discomfort and walked up to him. "It's your work, right?" She whispered, causing Yusuke's eyes to widen.

He didn't answer, only clutching his hands.

Seeing this as his answer, she swiftly texted in the group chat.

[Le Fool's group chat]

**Shiho: Kitagawa was a victim as well.**

It only took a few seconds before Keigo answered her.

**Keigo: So we're right.**

**Keigo: To be honest, I was hoping this to be false.**

**Akira: Not good...**

**Akira: We need to find the final keyword ASAP.**

**Shiho: So meet up at the shack after the exhibition?**

**Akira: Totally.**

**Keigo: Yeah.**

**Akira: Oh, on a side note.**

**Akira: I know someone who has some level of fame in the art world.**

**Keigo: She's Chidori Yoshino, have you heard of her?**

**Shiho: Never. **

**Shiho: Let me ask Kitagawa about her.**

Looking away from her phone, she politely asked Yusuke. "Um... Kitagawa-San, I know this could be out of nowhere..."

"But have you heard of the name 'Chidori Yoshino'?"

"'Chidori Yoshino'... I've heard that name!" Ann suddenly exclaimed before the young painter can answer, "She's been on TV a few weeks ago!"

"Oh, you're talking about Yoshino-Sensei," Yusuke said with a faint smile, seems to be surprised by the mention of the name. "She's one of the best abstract painters in Japan now. I would love to meet her and talk about art."

"Oh..." Shiho nodded at the answers.

With that said, the young painter directed the two girls to a few more paintings before checking the time. "I'm afraid I'll have to leave soon." He said apologetically, frowning softly in the process.

"Would it be all right to ask for that answer now?"

Shiho glanced at Ann with a hesitant look, "Ann... Are you sure about that?" She asked.

The model blinked and smiled cheerfully afterward. "Well...if it's just modeling, then...sure! I'm actually a model for a fashion magazine here in Tokyo, so this won't be too different, I think!" She nodded confidently.

"How wonderful! Here," Yusuke smiled brightly, giving a card to the two girls from his pocket. "This is the address of Sensei's Atelier with my number. Please let me know when you're coming."

"OK, sure!" Ann nodded, taking the card and put it in her bag.

The painter then turned his attention toward Shiho. "Also, Suzui-San. If you can come with Takamaki-San for the modeling, this would be splendid."

"I'll consider that." The volleyball player nodded politely, also putting the card in her jacket's pocket.

The painter beamed at the responses. "Great! Farewell, Takamaki-San, Suzui-San." He walked away, disappearing out of sight in the crowd.

Ann sighed after he disappeared, eyes darting around to find their companions. "Ugh... Shiho, do you know where'd they go?"

"No." Shiho frowned, taking out his phone to text the two. "I'll text them to meet up at the entrance."

"Oh yeah! We can just call them." The model blinked in realization, quickly texted both Ren and Ryuji to meet up at the entrance.

* * *

After texting and calling the four boys to come, Shiho and Ann waited at the entrance of the exhibition center for five whole minutes before Akira and Keigo finally came up and meet them. Ryuji and Ren came up afterward.

"Sorry... We're late..." Ryuji apologized, panting heavily. "We got dragged into this huge crowd..."

"...Why didn't you told us earlier about this?!" Ann shouted, glaring at the two.

"We were too busy to come out and forgot to tell you about that... sorry..." Ren added, panting heavily as well.

After a few minutes of glaring, the model finally sighed. "...Fine."

Seeing the mood of the three of them(four if you counting Morgana) calm down, Akira tapped Ann's shoulder and caught her attention. "Um... Ann, we have something else to do."

"I think we should be going by now." Shiho ended with an apologetic tone, waving them goodbye before walked away with her companion.

"See you tomorrow, Shiho." Ann trailed off, waving goodbye at them before turning back to Ryuji and Ren.

"Weird..." Ren murmured, rubbing his chin. "Kamisaki would be fully transferred tomorrow... why did they acting like friends for a while?"

"I don't know..." The model sighed, putting her hands on her hip. "They have been on their own for a while now... It seems like they're hiding something from me."

"Maybe they don't want you to worry," Ryuji suggested, tilting his head. "Anyways. You gotta look at this too." He took out his phone and opened Phan-Site, showing the post to her. "This post might be about Madarame."

They stared at him in surprise. "What's it say?" Ann asked.

"_'A master of the Japanese arts is plagiarizing his pupil's work.'_" He repeated the post. "_'Only his public face is shown on TV.'_"

"Plagiarizing?!" Ann gasped, staring at them with wide eyes.

"Madarame's style is too diverse for a single person. I have wondered about this for a while now." Ren explained, resting his hands in his pocket. "But with him plagiarizing his pupils, it all makes sense now."

"_'His treatment of the pupils who live with him is awful. He teaches nothing and bosses them around. He treats them inhumanely as if disciplining a dog…'_" Ryuji finished, disgusted at what it said. "Man, with 'Madarame' and 'shack' triggered the Meta-Nav, this is too effed up."

"Abuse on top of plagiarism, hm...?" Morgana scowled, poking up from Ren's bag.

Ann rubbed her chin thoughtfully. "I wonder if Kitagawa-Kun posted this. I mean, he is a pupil of his after all."

"fifty-fifty." Ren shook his head, crossing in front of himself.

"Then it's very possible the Madarame we heard about in Mementos is referring to the same one." Morgana commented, licking his pawn.

"A man like that doing such a thing...?"The model whispered, frowning. "I wonder if we can ask that Shadow from earlier about this... Oh."

She perked up. "Actually, we just need to talk to him in reality."

"You're serious?" Ryuji deadpanned. "And how do we go about that? Are we gonna explain it all, startin' with Mementos?"

Morgana nodded in agreement. "Besides, if we make a move out in the open, there's the possibility that Madarame will find out."

Her face fell. "Oh...Yeah, right."

* * *

On the other hand, after departing from Ann and others, the three members of Le Fool arrived at the shack Madarame lived in. With Meta-Nav opened, they stayed at the spot on a walkway on the other side.

Akira inputted the first three keywords to the Meta-Nav, looking at the others."So, any idea for the final keyword?"

"What would Madarame sees in this shack?" Keigo murmured, thinking.

"It must something be about art," Shiho suggested, also pondering for the keyword.

Then, the mixed-blood boy suddenly perked up. "How about 'Gallary'!"

**"Location not Found."** The mechanical feline voice of the Meta-Nav rejected him almost instantly.

"If it's not 'Gallary'..." Shiho murmured, rubbing her chin thoughtfully before an idea suddenly came out in her mind. "How about 'Church'?"

**"Location not Found."**

"'coliseum'"

**"Location not Found."**

"...This is going nowhere!" Keigo groaned in frustration, giving up in the guessing part. "Just... 'Museum'!"

**"Location found, beginning navigation."**

"Wait, I guess it-" Before he can finish his word, the world around them started to warp and distort, transferring them to the Metaverse.

* * *

[Madarame's Palace, Entrance]

Noticing that their clothes had changed into the thieves outfit, Jester turned around and only to see that the old and cheap-looking shack was changed into a golden and glamorous museum exhibiting. A neverending line of people queuing to enter the exhibition.

"W-Wow..." The leader of Le Fool murmured, eyes widening. "That's unexpected."

"So the whole 'important is to distance oneself from worldly desires' thing is just BS." Roi sighed, adjusting his hat. "This is worse than I thought."

"You're right." Swan nodded, turning toward the leader. "Let's look for an infiltrate point first, Jester."

Jester nodded in agreement, leading the two to the side of the huge museum. Leaping from a square structure to another, they finally had reached the roof of the main building and saw an opened window.

"Oh, I forgot about that." Jester suddenly remembered, giving a grappling hook that was identical to Shiho's one to him. "Your's grappling hook."

"...You bought it?" The royal thief observed the silver boxes in his hand, raising an eyebrow.

"Nah, I made it on my own." The leader replied with a shrug. "The second-hand shop was selling the needed materials for it."

"I'm not asking about where do you get the materials." He deadpanned, playing with the grappling hook in his hand. "Where did you learn to make gadgets like this?"

finally realized what Roi was asking, Jester shrugged. "Well, back when I was living in the Iwatodai dorm, I stayed with Fuuka-San for a long time. We made gadgets and electronics together, and thus now I'm kinda good at making gadgets and stuff."

"So that's why..." Roi's thought train was interrupted as Swan suddenly cleared her throat, taking the two's attention.

"Are we just gonna stay in here and talk, or start our infiltration?" She said with slight anger, causing them to shiver for a bit.

"Y-Yeah." The leader shuttered, looking back at the open window. "Let's go, everyone."

With a sigh, the white thief swiftly jumped down to the museum, using her grappling hook to slow down her fall. Roi and Jester followed her afterward.

"Um... It's too quiet, even for Palace's standard." Jester commented, looking around.

"I can agree with that." Roi agreed with a nod, noticing the paintings hanging on the wall, each contained a portrait of a person, a young one.

"Huh... That's very 'diverse'." Swan sarcastically remarked, stepping closer to examine the portrait. "It's creepy."

"Yeah." The leader nodded, examining another portrait while noticing the info plaque below the portrait. "...Takumi Sato, 18... What the hell, what's with these names and stuff?"

"I got one here too." The royal thief said, looking at another painting of someone else. "Hana Ikari, 23... Kenji Ono, 16... This seems to be the portrait of former pupils of Madarame."

"Hey, guys! I found something."

Before Jester can answer, the white thief's word suddenly rang from behind, causing them to turn around. "This is Yusuke's portrait!" She exclaimed, eyes widening under her mask.

"That just confirmed your theory, Roi." Jester commented, suspicion building up in his chest. "Seeing them as a product and not human at all... This is a deep rabbit hole we're getting into."

"But we still need some more investigation." Roi suggested with a serious expression, pointing at the exit of the room. The other two nodded and with Jester leading the way, they reached a place with an information desk for some reason.

"So a museum indeed..." The leader trailed off, taking a leaflet for aside, reading it. "Oh, this is the map."

"Huh?" Swan and Roi stepped to his side and looked at the leaflet with him.

"It's not complete." She commented, rubbing her chin thoughtfully. "And it said there's one more leaflet deeper to the museum."

"I don't think we can complete the map today." Roi took the leaflet from Jester's hand, narrowing his eyes under the mask. "It's only half of the museum, and it's huge."

"We can worry about it another time." Jester interrupted. "We still need some more information to Madarame, let's explore for a bit more before calling it a day."

"Yeah, sure." Swan shrugged.

"Of course."

Seeing the agreement from the two, he led the trio of thieves to the only exit of the information booth. After a bit of running and strangely quiet hallways, they came across a large hall with a golden monument in the middle.

The monument was surrounded by a lot of banners with Madarame's name and caricature, billowing silently. taking a step closer to examine it, they found that the sculpture consists of several young children and adults, holding up their arms like a salve. At the very top was Madarame himself, raised by the multitude of children underneath him.

"What the hell is this?" The leader of the trio walked up to the plague, confused. "'The Infinite Spring: A conglomerate work of art that the great director Madarame created with his own funds. These individuals must offer their ideas to the director for the rest of their lives. Those who cannot do so have no worth living!'" He finished, realization and disgust building up in his throat.

"So the plagiarism was real." Roi said, clenching his hand in anger. "Unforgiveable bastard."

"He doesn't even qualify as an artist!" Swan angrily exclaimed, glaring at the monument. "He only keeps them around as long as they're useful to him."

"Another disgusting adult..." Jester murmured, clenching his fist. "He's not getting away with this, I swear."

"Yeah." The royal thief nodded, noticing that every door aside of the one they came in was locked. "But I think we can't go for any further now, it's all locked."

"All locked..." He murmured, sighing in defeat. "Let's come back tomorrow."

They all reluctantly nodded and went back to the open window, grappling themselves out. However, they're not aware that someone was watching them enter the Metaverse and came back to the real world.

"No way... They just vanished in thin air and came back..."

On the corner of the street the trio was standing on, a young lady with long dark hair with bangs, a red hair accessory resembling a rope with a three-leaf clover and a normal Kosei uniform was watching them in the distance.

Before she can speak again, her phone suddenly buzzed. "It's mother..." she took out her phone see frowned from who's calling, but still accepted the call anyway.

"Hifumi, where have you been!" The woman in the other end of the line shouted, causing the young lady to wince. "The interview is almost here! Where are you!"

"I'm sorry mother..." She apologized, bowing in the process. "I was going to thanks Kitagawa-Kun for helping me for art-related work-"

"I've told you that you're not allowed to date!" The woman shouted back. "You know there's already some male fans with all of your photo spread!"

"We're just classmates..." The yong lady sighed, walking down the road to meet her mother for the interview. "I will be there in a minute."

"Don't you dare to be late, Hifumi!" With that, the woman cut her line, leaving her alone.

However, her thought was filled by her discovery about those people. 'Who are those people' She thought, walking toward the station.

'Maybe I should observe them for a while...'

* * *

And with that, chapter 13 of P5: Another Thief concludes! thank you for reading!

Hifumi was officially introduced(And a month earlier than the game)! For story reason, her backstory and relationship with her mother will be changed for a bit. I bet you guys already guessed what I was going to do with her.

Also, I forgot to put the stat of Napoleon- Keigo's Persona. So here it is.

**Napoleon**\- Lv. 18

Main elemental type:** Nuclear** AND **Ice**

RESIST: **Nuclear** ATTACK AND **Ice** ATTACK

WEAK: **Psychokinesis** AND **Fire** ATTACK

SKILLS:

**Frei: Light Nuclear Damage to one foe.**

**Bufu: ****Light Ice Damage to one foe.**

**Amrita Drop: Cure all physiological ailments of 1 ally except for special status.**

**Rakukaja: Increase 1 teammate's Defense for a short period of time.**

**(Unique Skill)Conqueror's Rush: ****Increase 1 teammate's Agility for a while (longer than a Sukukaja ****)**

Hope you would enjoy this story so far, reviews are welcome!


	14. Chapter 14: Mission2, Start!

[16th May, lunch, courtyard]

After yesterday's little investigation in Madarame's palace, life seems to be normal for the three Persona users. With Ann's modeling after school, they just waited for school to end.

Mr. Inui paused in his lecture. "Oh yes, the great artist Madarame is holding an exhibit in Shibuya right now, isn't he? I've gone to see his works a number of times."

Ren, Ann, and Akira's head perked up as they heard Madarame's name.

"Goodness, are they magnificent! The moment I saw them, I knew he was something else." He said, closing his eyes in nostalgia.

'Um... I've never seen him like this...' Akira thought, sweatdropping in the process.

"By the way, you seem far removed from the arts, Mr. Amamiya." The teacher's asked gaze dropped to the fuzzy-haired boy. "Do you know who created the piece which sold for the highest price back in the 20th century?"

"Hmm?" Ren straightened from his seat, blinking in confusion for a moment. "Vincent van Gogh, right?"

"That's correct. It seems you know a thing or two after all." Mr. Inui clapped, impressed with Ren's knowledge. "That piece was purchased for the equivalent of 18 billion yen, and it sold for even more later. However, since the turn of the 21st century, a new record has been set practically every year."

The students beside Akira and Ann almost immediately whispered to each other, surprised by his knowledge.

_"Hey, did you know that? I had no idea!"_

_"Maybe he actually is smart. I'm kind of surprised."_

_"Oh shoot, Inui-sensei's glaring at us!"_

"People put a serious amount of passion and money into art. If I had that kind of money, I wouldn't mind having a painting or two myself…" Removing his glare from the two students, the teacher chuckled.

"Seems like art can make you a tidy sum." Morgana declared quietly, flicking an ear. "Let's see with our own eyes whether or not the accusations of him stealing art are true. You're meeting the others at the train station, right? Let's go when class lets out!"

Ren nodded faintly in response.

* * *

[After school]

Once the school had ended, Ren, Ryuji, and Ann all met up at the station and got onto the subway toward Shibuya. Since there weren't enough seats, thus Ryuji stood while Ren and Ann sat down. Ren put his bag on his lap, letting Morgana poking his head out.

"Phantom thieves goin' by train...This ain't any different from how I get home from school, y'know." Ryuji grumbled as he held onto the safety grip, sighing sullenly.

"We can walk the whole way there if you want to," Ren remarked, shrugging.

"The train is the fastest way to go. Plus, we can bring pets on here."Ann nodded in agreement.

At that, Morgana turned toward her. "Hey who're you calling a pet?!" He exclaimed, panicking.

"Dude, be quiet! We didn't pay the pet fare." Ryuji hissed, looking around.

"I'm the one guiding you to your destination!" The cat retorted, glaring at him. "You should be calling me 'Master'!"

"No. We're not going to call you 'Master'." Ren deadpanned, pinching his nosebridge in annoyance. "And please be quiet... You're making a scene."

"No! I'm not-"

"Oh, kitty!"

the trio stopped, looking at the source of the voice with widened eyes. It was a young girl walking up to them, smiling innocently at the cat.

"Shoot..." Ann murmured, biting her lips.

"Is that your pet, Mister? I heard it meowing!" The girl asked excitedly, looking up at Ren.

"It's a stuffed animal." Ren lied with a surprisingly calm look, trying his best to hold his laughter internally.

Ann nodded hurriedly. "Yeah, it's just a toy. It meows when you press on its head." She smiled nervously.

With a grin on his face, Ryuji looked at Ren impishly. "You heard her, Ren. Press on its head."

Giving him a nod of agreement, Ren looked down at the cat with a smirk.

"Ren! This is ridici-" Morgana's began in panic, but was interrupted when Ren pressed on his head, causing him to meow with a frown. "M-Mewww..."

"Wowweeeee! Again! Again!" the little girl clapped happily, bouncing in her place.

An idea hitting him, Ren put his hand on the feline's head. 'Time for some payback for forcing me to sleep.' He thought devilishly.

"Time to button mash."

Before Morgana could say anything, he started to pet him furiously. "Mew...Meowowowowowowowowow!" Morgana sputtered, his head bobbing up and down out of his control, before flopping against the side of the bag.

"...Blerghh…" He groaned, head rolling back.

"That's so funny! I wanna hear it again!" the little girl cheered, laughing innocently.

"I just threw up in my mouth…" The feline whispered weakly, head bobbing.

"Seriously..?" Ryuji sweatdropped, shaking his head exasperatedly.

Lucky for Morgana, an announcement of arriving at Shibuya station interrupted them. The teens perked up and Ann turned back to the little girl. "Oh, this is our stop! Well, see you later! Bye Bye!" She said with a friendly smile

"Mm-hm! Bye Bye!" The little girl nodded and hopped back to her mother.

On the other hand, the trio of Le Fool was standing on the other end of the train cart, watching them in amusement.

"Ren is such a real troll sometimes." Akira remarked, covering his laughter. "Poor Morgana."

"They are so not like what a Phantom Thief should be like." Keigo commented, sighing in slight disappointment. "But looking back at us, we're just the same... Just like everyone else, we're just mere human after all..."

"You know, your philosophical side is creeping me out." Shiho said, taking a small step back toward Akira. "Is the Shadow Operative always filled with peoples like you?"

"From what I see..." The brown-haired boy said, sweatdropping in the process. "...Yeah, maybe."

"I'm not going to admit or denied that claim..." The mixed-blood deadpanned, gesturing them to exit the train before it's too late. "And we're there."

Akira and Shiho shrugged in unison and exited the train, walking toward Madarame's shack with Ren's group in front of them.

* * *

[Shibuya, In front of Madarame's shack]

After walking through the crowded and noisy central street, Ren and his teammates finally reached the shack. It was old, very old. And a big contrast from the nicer house beside it.

They exchanged a hesitated look at each other. Ann looked down at the map on her phone. "We're in the right address..."

She looked at the door plate below the doorbell, it wrote 'Madarame' on it. "The door plate does say 'Madarame'."

"Uhh... You ring the bell." Ryuji suggested, putting his hands on her back and lightly pushed her toward the house.

"Me?!" Ann exclaimed in surprise, eyes widening. "The walls won't collapse when I do, will they...?"

"Maybe, but I'm not sure about that." Ren jokingly commented, shrugging.

"You're not helping at all, Ren." The model deadpanned, giving him a low glare.

They walked up to the house and Ann rang the doorbell. The speaker crackled. _"Who is it? Sensei is currently busy."_

"Um, it's Takamaki." She spoke to the speaker.

She heard a gasp from the speaker as she finished her sentence. _"I'll be right out!"_

before anyone could say a thing, the door slid open with a crack, revealing Yusuke. "Takamaki-San! You came!"

"Y-Yeah..." Ann awkwardly giggled, trying to be polite.

However, the artist's glance instantly changed into a more disappointed one as he noticed the appearance of Ren and Ryuji. "...You two are here, as well?"

"Hey." Ryuji greeted with a shit-eating grin on his face. "Sorry, but we ain't here to talk about the modeling thing. There's something we gotta ask you."

"Beg me pardon?" Yusuke asked, tilting his head in confusion.

He furrowed his brow. "Is it true Madarame's plagiarizin' stuff? He's abusin' people too, yeah?"

"Are you serious?" The young painter asked flatly, staring at him with an unimpressed face.

"We read about it online." Ren took out his phone and showed the forum post on the Phan-Site to him. "We're just concerned about you."

"This…?" Yusuke squinted at the post, crossing his arms. He held his forehead, his shoulders beginning to tremble.

"Uh..." Ann gave the two teens a creeped out glance. "This is creeping me out."

"Preposterous!" A few chuckles escaped him before transforming into full-on laughter. "Not only is the plagiarism impossible, but abuse? If he hated children so much to harm them, he would never allow pupils into his home!"

"And I'm the one residing here and studying under him. I'm saying it's not true, so it's beyond doubt." He finished, but he's right eyes twitched unintentionally as he stated that.

Ren caught the unusual twitching on his eye. 'So it's true...' He thought.

"OK... We'll not ask you about this for now." Backing down, Ren nodded. "Now, it's about Ann's modeling, right?"

"Yes." Yusuke nodded, guiding the three teens to his room in the shack.

* * *

A minute or two after Ren's group entering the shack, Akira and his teammates appeared at the walkway opposite of the shack. Akira opened his Meta-nav and ready to enter the palace again.

"So... They want to use Ann modeling to find any new information." Shiho sighed, pinching her nosebridge in frustration. "I swear to god. If Ann was in danger, I'm going to use Kitagawa as my personal spike training target."

"You've said it for the sixth time now, Shiho." Keigo deadpanned, sighing while crossing his arms.

"Keigo, just leave her be." Akira patted his shoulder, shrugging. "She'll be fine."

"But Akira..."

"I know." Sighing, The leader tapped at the navigation history. "Shiho, businesses first."

"Y-Yeah." Shiho quickly snapped back to the real-world, nodding. "Sorry about that."

Akira nodded and pressed the navigation button, sending the three to the Metaverse, vanishing in plain sight.

However, they didn't notice that a certain young lady was overhearing their conversation, watching them vanished in thin air.

"They did it again..." The young lady murmured, remembering their name and their school from the uniform. "Shiho... Keigo... Akira... Shujin Acadamy..."

* * *

[Madarame's palace, in front of the gold statue.]

"Great." Jester sighed in annoyance, looking down as he crossed his arms in front of himself. "Still closed."

"This is going nowhere." Roi looked around, trying to find an opened window or anything that'll create a new path. "Jester, did you found anything new to go?"

"I don't think so." Swan answered, equally frustrated as him. "Let's just go back..."

"As much as I hate this, but I think today is a no go as well." The leader commanded, leading the two toward the opened window in frustration.

However, as they're going to grapple themselves back toward the opened window, the sound of other thieves caused them to quickly hid into the shadow.

_"Oh! The skylight's open!"_ Skull's cheerful voice echoed the empty museum. _"I think we can get in here."_

It was followed by Panther's hesitated reply. _"But it's a pretty far drop...Will we be able to get back out this way?"_

_"Don't worry..."_ Mona snickered, seems to be taking something from his pocket. _"I have a rope! I'm our tool specialist, after all!"_

_"Thanks, Mona."_ Joker thanked, tying one end of the rope to an AC unit and dropping the other in through the open skylight.

_"By the way, Mona,"_ Panther asked again. _"where do you get your supplies?"_

_"It's my special Meowvery ability!"_ The feline thief said with sheer confidence.

_"Oh, OK." _The red thief sweatdropped.

Overhearing everything they said, Jester turned to his teammates and whispered. "I'm going to have a little talk with them, just find another way to proceed in the museum, OK?"

"You're serious?" Roi asked, raising an eyebrow in confusion. "There's no other way-"

"Maybe the pathway triggered when someone entered the shack in the real world." Swan interrupted, giving their leader a frim nod. "We'll be fine, even if we encountered some shadow."

"...I hope so." Jester nodded, patted her shoulder before jumping down, using the shadow from his tophat to mask his face.

The other thieves slide down from the rope, examining their surroundings. "...It's quiet. Almost too quiet." Mona commented.

"H-Hey..." Panther trailed off, looking at the portraits. "This…"

"It's...moving…" She commented hesitantly, walking up to one.

"C'mon, we're in a Palace." Skull refuted. "That ain't anything to be freakin' out over."

"Hm," Mona narrowed his large eyes. "The Palace reflects its ruler's heart...We may want to check these paintings out."

Seeing it as his opportunity, Jester decided to speak out, gaining their attention. "Those portraits are for Madarame's pupil."

"Huh?!" Even though visibly surprised by his appearance, but Skull quickly regained his composure. "Jester! Why are you here?!"

"We are also investigating Madarame." He explained, leaning to the wall behind him. "And you're not gonna like what you saw here."

"Wait, 'We'?" The punk caught the strange word he used, narrowing his eyes in question. "That means... You're not alone?"

"Of course! Remember Kamoshida's fight?" Jester deadpanned in the shadow. "Swan was there at the time."

"Oh yeah!" Panther exclaimed in realization, nodding. "I remember that!"

"Well, at least you're not as hopeless as seems." The tophat wearing thief jokingly remarked, putting both of his hands to the pockets on his trench coat. "Back to topic, Madarame only sees his pupils as product... and product only."

The group's eyes widened as he explained, looking back to those portraits in horror and anger. "Wait... Now it all makes sense now." Panther breathed, covering her mouth with a shivering hand.

"No way..." Joker murmured, turning to Jester. "You said that there's more of it... right?"

"Yeah..." He nodded, pointing at the doorway toward the statue. "Even though I don't want to let you guys see that... But you need to."

with that said, he fired his grappling hook, disappeared into the shadow.

"Hmm? You guys are back." He muttered in a slight surprise as he saw his teammates crouching beside him. "So... No?"

"Yeah, still locked." Swan sighed, looking at the opened skylight. "I think we'll come back tomorrow to see if any new development."

"I Agree." Roi agreed with a nod, readying his grappling hook. "Let's go back."

With a sigh, Jester agreed. "Yeah, let's go."

* * *

[18th May, Afterschool, Shibuya station.]

"So Mishima said Nakanohara is meeting us here..." Ren muttered, standing in the crowd of people and leaning on a pillar. "Ann, Ryuji, just wait for me at the hideout, OK?"

With a nod of confirmation, the other two left the scene and left the leader alone with Morgana watching his back from his shoulder bag. "Let's hope this works." The feline whispered.

After a few minutes of waiting, a familiar man with an unmistakable bowl cut in a suit walked up behind them. "...My name is Nakanohara. Natsuhiko Nakanohara," He mumbled. "The one who was posted about on the Phantom Aficionado Website."

'He seems nice, so the change of heart did work.' Ren thought, nodding slightly.

"The administrator of that website contacted me…" Nakanohara continued. "They told me to look for someone in a Shujin uniform with a cat."

"Well, you found the right person," Ren replied, crossing his arms in front of himself. "So, why are you contacting us?"

Nakanohara looked down for a moment, hesitated to what he's gonna say. "You may have already heard, but there's someone I wish to trigger a change of heart in." he took a deep breath.

"...An artist by the name of Madarame."

"OK." The thief nodded, listening closely to what he's going to say.

"I'm...one of Madarame's former pupils. He gave me lodging at his home, where I thought only about art. I genuinely wanted to be an artist…" He clenched his hands, looking away. "There was another pupil as well. A very talented man, multiple years my senior. Obviously, Madarame kept tabs on him. Everything he made was claimed as a Madarame original. He wasn't the only victim though…"

"In response to Madarame's actions...that senior pupil committed suicide."

Ren and Morgana's eyes widened as they heard the word coming out of Nakanohara's word. "That's more awful than I thought..."

"He must have been unable to bear seeing his work praised under Madarame's name… That was when I disobeyed Madarame's pleas and left." He looked away, clenching his hand in anger. "...But he quickly pressured other parts of the art world, and my life as a painter was destroyed."

"I tried to turn over a new leaf working at a ward office...but it was no use. My attachment to art warped my emotions. Soon I began getting attached to everything..." The teller hung his head, chuckling bitterly. "In the end, I even turned into a stalker…"

Ren only furrowed his bow in sympathy for him. 'He never meant to be a stalker... Just because of Madarame's action on him...'

"...I'd like to ask again. Please, make Madarame have a change of heart." He requested quietly. "Not only for me. It's...to save the life of another man as well."

"Even now, there is still one young man remaining under Madarame's tutelage. I think he's about your age."

"It's Kitagawa, right?" Ren asked, earning a surprised look from Nakanohara. "We've met him."

He quickly regained his compose, nodding. "I have no right to say this given my prior cowardice, but I don't want to see another suicide...!" He grimaced. "I'd like to find a way to save this young man. He has a bright future ahead of him...Please consider that when thinking about changing Madarame's heart." He bowed politely before turning away to leave. Ren also left soon afterward to the hideout.

* * *

[Madarame's palace]

"So they did something in the real world..." Jester muttered as he looked at the infrared laser at the bottom.

"Luckily, we have our grappling hook." Roi whispered, taking out his grappling hook. "Let go, shall we?"

The two nodded and changed their position to the other side. observing at the shadows below.

"Maybe we can help them to clear some shadow beforehand." The leader whispered, turning toward Swan. "Swan, can you do this?"

"Of course." She replied with a faint smile on her face, readying her grappling hook and aimed at the security. "I got some experience before."

She fired her hook and attached it directly to the back of the guard, pulling her self to there. "Greeting." The white thief whispered to its ear, ripping off its mask.

The other two quickly jumped down and rushed to her side while she jumped elegantly from the back of the shadow. The guard dissolved into a pile of black goo before transforming into two Night Walking Warriors.

"Fly high, Jeanne!" With no hesitation, Swan touched her mask and summoned the crystal Persona. "Giant Slice!"

Jeanne rushed to the shadow and sliced one of the Night Walking Warrior in half, taking this as his opportunity, Jester quickly followed up with his own attack.

"Blast them apart! Moriarty!" He shouted, holding his revolver with both of his hands while Moriarty mimicking his motion. "Revolver barrage!"

The two fired all twelve bullets from their revolver and hit the target with no misses, killing the shadow Jeanne sliced in half in the process.

"Persona!" Roi quickly shouted, running to the only shadow remain while the black rider appeared beside him. "Conqueror's Rush!"

A ray of green light surrounded him and he felt his body becoming lighter and faster. With a small smirk on his face, he rushed to the shadow and sliced it into pieces with his longsword, ending the battle.

"That was easy," Jester commented, reloading his revolver and putting it back to his holster. "Well, let's continue, shall we?"

the other two nodded, and they continued their infiltration toward the depth of the museum. Killing many shadows in the process and somehow didn't raise the alarm level.

A few moments after the three left the exhibition room and follow the hall right, they came across a large purple door. Jester glanced at the two with a raised eyebrow, seems to be asking for permission from them.

"Let's see what's in there." Roi nodded, taking his evoker out from his holster.

"After you." Swan added, taking her saber from her holster as well.

With a frim nod, he pushed open the purple door, only for the room to shudder for a moment before return to normal. Seeing this as a sign of saferoom, the leader sighed in relief. "Saferoom, fantastic."

"Saferoom?" Roi questioned, examing the surroundings while entering the room. "So there are places for us to take a rest in a palace?"

"Correct," Swan replied, sitting at the chairs in relaxation. "We should mark this room for quick travel in the future."

"Already done~," Jester said in a sing-song tone, stretching his arms. "Let's take a few minutes to break first."

* * *

In the meantime, the four thieves came into the museum via their ropes left, seeing the new security they were facing. "Well... That's new." Panther commented, examing the infrared laser devices.

"The rumors might slowly be making Madarame become warier of us…" Morgana said, turning toward their leader. "Joker! They're not easy to see, but you should be able to do it with your skills. Be careful!"

"I know." Joker nodded in understanding. Closing his eyes, he activities his third eye ability, seeing the red lines clearly. Running toward the gate, he swiftly slid underneath, avoiding the lasers perfectly.

The others followed his action soon afterward, Skull stumbling for a bit as he stood back up. The feline spotted a shadow coming in their way and quickly told everyone to hide behind a corner.

"Ready..." The leader muttered, waiting for the perfect moment to strike. Once the guard was inside of his range, he jumped to the back of the shadow, gripping on its mask.

"Show me your true form!" He shouted, ripping the mask off before jumping off with a backflip. His teammates rushed to his side afterward, ready for a battle.

The shadow dissolved into a black pile before changing into two Girl of the Hanging Tree and one Leafy Old Man. With no hesitation, Joker fired his handgun to one female shadow, knocking her down.

Giving his opportunity to Skull, he did a high-five with him, passing the baton. With a smirk on his face, the punk thief summoned the pirate. "Captain Kidd! Headbutt!"

The pirate slammed itself to the Leafy Old Man, killing it instantly. "Panther! Your turn!" Skull shouted, looking back toward the red thief.

"I know!" Panther exclaimed with sheer confidence, summoning Carmen behind her. "Dance Carmen! Maragi!"

Carmen fired a barrage of fireball toward the two shadows, but the fireballs got repelled and headed directly to the user herself. "Wha-"

Before she can finish her word, Skull suddenly jumped toward her from aside, pushing themselves away from the fireballs. They rolled on the ground for a moment before stopping with the pirate on top of the red thief.

Even though Mona was a bit relieved as he saw Skull saved her from the fire attack, but he quickly turned his attention back to the battle on hand. "Show them what you've got! Zorro!"

Zorro swung his rapier and sent a wave of razor-sharp wind to the two shadows, finally killing them.

Once the battle was over, Joker turned to both Skull and Panther with a worrying glance, jogging toward them. "Hey! You guys alright-"

He interrupted himself as he saw the situation they were in-They were frozen in their position, staring at each other's eyes in complete silence. Sighing, he put both of his hand to the pirate's shoulder and pull him up, signaling Mona to help Panther to get up.

"Hey, bro." He said, poking Skull's shoulder. "Are you coming back to the land of the living?"

"H-Huh?" The pirate finally shook out from his state of zoning out, looking back at Joker with slight embarrassment. "Oh s-sorry, just zonin' out for too long."

Joker studies the look on his face, eyes darting between Panther and him before realizing something. With a smirk on his face, he patted his teammate's shoulder with a nod.

"Panther, it's lucky that Skull was just in time to save you. You should be careful." Mona sighed, looking at his feet. "I wish that person is me..." He muttered quietly and didn't get heard by Panther.

"Well... Yeah, I should be more careful." The red thief said with a faint blush on her face, luckily covered by her mask. "J-Joker! I think we should get going now!"

Surprised by her sudden request, the leader hesitated for a moment before nodding, leading the trio deeper into the museum.

* * *

After a few-minute break, the three thieves of Le Fool continued their infiltration and came across a huge golden in the middle of the room. "Umm... Why would a golden vase be in here for no reason?" Roi questioned, tilting his head toward the other two.

"It's a trap, I think." Jester shrugged, decided to continue their infiltration.

They exited the room with the golden vase, set out across the room and down the hallway, turning the corner. Unfortunately, the rest of the hall was blocked with infrared beams.

"No go... Huh." Jester muttered, noticing at the ledge to their way. "Let's try that way."

They jumped up onto the rim. Looking out into the next room, they saw a security guard roam the barren exhibit and a large hole in the middle of the ground.

"uh... No go either?" Swan sighed, looking at his teammates for another suggestion.

"Wait a minute. Look!" Roi replied, pointing at the guards who were standing at the 'hole'.

"It's an optical illusion." Jester concluded, jumping down and ambushing the enemy.

Jumping to the back of one of the guards, Roi gripped at the edge of the mask. "Bonjour." He whispered, ripping off the mask while Jester ripping off the other guard's mask.

Finishing the two shadows off, they looked around and saw two bathrooms aside. Nodding to each other in slight awkwardness, the two male thieves explored the men's bathroom while Swan investigated the women's bathroom.

"Nothing here." Jester shrugged as he saw nothing in here, turning back. "Let's head back out-" However, his word was interrupted someone's voice suddenly rang from outside, catching their attention.

"The hell?!" It was Skull, obviously. "How're we supposed to get past this huge hole in the ground!"

"Oh man..." Swan commented with a disappointed sigh, peeking from the entrance of the bathroom. "what should we do?"

"Maybe we can throw something to show them that it's an optical illusion." Jester murmured, as if he is answering her. "But what should we throw?"

"A card or some sort." Roi replied, pointing at his notebook in his pocket. "Just make a paper plane or something, come on."

"I guess." He shrugged, peeling an empty page from his notebook and folded it to a paper plane. "Let's hope it hits the mark."

He threw the paper plane from the bathroom, internally hoping that it'll land on the 'hole'. Luckily, it landed perfectly on that and caught the other thieve's eyes.

"A paper plane? Why is it her-" Joker interrupted himself as he saw where the plane landed on, widening his eyes in realization. "Oh! It's just an optical illusion after all... I'm stupid."

"No you're not." Mona sweatdropped, jumping down to the ground with the others following him.

Seeing this as their opportunity, the trio quickly fired their grappling hook and pulled themselves into the shadow, continuing their infiltration.

* * *

Using their grappling hook to skip past some locked doors and security measures, they reached an open garden and a golden monolith of a building at the end of the walkway. That building was composed of multiple golden blocks, stacked haphazardly in random, reaching into the night sky.

Looking at the map they acquired, Jester raised his eyebrow. "That building is not on the map."

"So we're on the right track." Swan replied, smirking faintly.

They ran in the direction of the building and the bamboo painted shoji doors parted, opening a path toward the building. "That's interesting..." Roi commented, marveled at the mechanics.

However, Their way was blocked by several red electric fences, static filling the air. And behind it was another large shoji door with painted peacock feathers decorating its surface.

"Well... There's must be something worth protecting ahead." The leader commented, putting the map back in his pocket. "But I think grappling hook won't work this time."

"Why?" Swan asked, tilting her head in confusion.

"Look." Roi answered, pointing at the infrared device on top of the shoji door. "We can't just jump over there, it has to be by opening this door."

"That sucks." She sighed in frustration, putting her hands in her hip. "Than how can we open the door?"

"No clue at all." Jester answered, shaking his head. "Let's head back for now, we'll find a new way to continue tomorrow-"

His word was interrupted as he saw four figures running toward them and quickly signaled the others to hide. They hid behind the underbrushes aside, overhearing their conversation.

The four thieves ran through, stopping in front of the red electric fences. "Whoa! The hell?!" Skull yelped.

"Are these...infrared lasers? There's no way we can get past them…" Panther trailed off, biting her lips.

"This level of security only proves there's something worth protecting up ahead." Mona commented, narrowing his eyes.

Joker noticed a plaque that was stood to the side like an information sign and walked up to it. "_'All personnel: This door can only be opened via the security room that lies beyond it. Please be cautious, as it is impossible to open from the outside.'_" he read.

Overhearing their mention about the plaque, Swan and Roi turned to Jester and glaring at him. "How can you miss that." They mouthed.

"You guys miss that too!" He mouthed back, trying his best to stay quiet.

Furrowing his brow, Skull stomped the ground in frustration. "So it's never gonna open?! How're we supposed to get past..?!"

"No idea at all." Their leader sighed, taking off his mask to pinch his nosebridge. "What can we do now..."

"Wait." Mona called out, eyes locked on the large door that blocked their path. "That door...I think I've seen that pattern somewhere…"

Panther tilted her head in confusion. "Where? Is it from your memories?"

"No, nothing like that..." Mona trailed off for a moment before perking up. "Oh right! There's no mistaking it! That's the same door I saw earlier!"

"Huh?" The other three questioned in unison.

"Guys, let's head back!" He shouted, turning back toward the pond.

"Why?!" Skull questioned exasperatedly, looking at the feline quizzically with his teammates.

"I think I know what real-world door that's based on. There may be another way to open it!" Mona replied. "In any case, I'll explain later! Come on, let's go!"

"Maybe he does have a plan." Joker shrugged before following him.

Panther and Skull looked at each other questioningly for a moment, finally decided to follow them as well. Seeing no solution for now, the trio of Le Fool also left the palace, using their grappling hook to exit the palace before them.

* * *

[The real world, Shibuya Station Central Street]

Once the trio of Le Fool was back to the real world, they quickly walked back to the train station, discussing their next step.

"So now we can only wait." Akira sighed. "This is not going nowhere..."

Shiho nodded, pinching her nosebridge in frustration. "But how can we know that they successfully opened the door?" She asked.

"No idea." Keigo replied.

The three sighed in unison, continuing their walk to the station.

Until someone's voice suddenly rang from behind, interrupting them.

"You three are the Phantom Thief, right?"

"Huh?" They turned toward the source of that voice, eyes widening in horror.

It was that young woman wearing a normal Kosei uniform, the one who was observing them in secret. "You three are from Shujin... That school where the Phantom Thief appeared."

"Now Madarame's name was on the Phantom Aficionado Website, you are targetting him, right?" She finished, showing them the moment they entered the Metaverse on her phone.

"This is bad, very bad." Keigo murmured, swallowing in nervousness.

"Akira..." Shiho whispered to the brown-haired boy, unsure of what to do. "What should we do?"

"I don't know..." Akira trailed off, widening his eyes further as he recognized who is the young lady in front of them. "Wait! No way..."

"You're... Hifumi Togo!"

* * *

With that, chapter 14 of P5: Another Thief concludes! thank you for reading!

The trio of Le Fool was caught red-handed by Hifumi, what does she want from them? Will they able to defuse this situation? With Madarame's palace occupying their schedule, they couldn't do another palace in the meantime... right?

Hope you would enjoy this story so far, reviews are welcome!


	15. Chapter 15: A literal 'palace'

ty6 "You're Hifumi Togo!" Akira shouted in realization, instantly regretting his stupid action.

"Yes, I am." Hifumi nodded calmly, taking a step closer.

"OK, miss Togo." Keigo said plainly, standing between her and the others. "Why are you telling us about that now?"

"You're going to expose us, right?" Shiho added, crossing her arms in front. "You caught us red-handed after all."

"You didn't deny my claim..." The Shogi player trailed off, looking down with a thoughtful look before perking back up. "It seems that I've found the right people for that..."

"'Right People'?" Akira questioned, tilting his head in confusion. "What do you mean by that?"

"You can change someone's heart for good, right?" She replied with a question, taking a deep breath before opening her mouth again. "I have a request for you."

"Request?" The volleyball player sweatdropped, looking at her with a hesitated look. "You can just post it on the Phan-Site. It's anonymous after all."

"If I can post it on the Phantom Aficionado Website, I would've done that already." Hifumi sighed softly. "But now I am face to face with you, this is my only chance to say my request."

"Uh..." Akira awkwardly rubbed the back of his neck, not sure what to do. "We'll hear about it, but not here in the street."

"We should go somewhere else to talk about that..." She nodded, changing her composure from a kind of intimating to a much comfier one. "Also, since I am a kind of popular now... We should find somewhere quiet."

"Understandable." Keigo commented, looking at Shiho for a suggestion.

"Maybe we can go to that family dinner to talk." Shiho suggested, tilting her head in uncertainty.

"Well, we don't have a lot of choices left," Akira sighed, turning back toward the family dinner briefly before turning back to Hifumi. "You're OK with this?"

She merely nodded silently in response, following them afterward.

* * *

[Family Dinner]

Once they entered the Family Dinner, the four found a table far away from other customers and sat down. Akira was sitting with Shiho while Keigo was sitting with Hifumi.

Ordering some coffee for everyone, Akira looked at the Shogi player with a deep look. "So... What exactly is your request?"

She looked down hesitantly to the table for a moment, but decided to tell them anyways. "I want to change someone's heart."

"You want to change someone's heart..." Keigo trailed off, asking her for more information. "No offense, but can you tell us who is the person you want his heart change?"

Shiho nodded in agreement. "It's basically impossible if we know nothing about that person."

After an internal battle with herself for a short while, Hifumi decided to tell them the full story. "It's my mother, Mitsuyo Togo." She said firmly.

"Your mother?" Shiho questioned.

"Yes, I want my mother's heart to be changed." The shogi player nodded, still looks hesitant to disclose the details. "She's been like this for a while now and... She's different from back then."

"Well, everyone's changing, I guess." Akira plainly commented, not aware of the seriousness of her problem.

"It not like that..." She trailed off, looking more hesitant than before. "She had been using me as her tool to fame... Fixing matches in order to make me gain idol status... And constantly shout at me for 'not being the princess she wants'..."

"That horrible..." Keigo murmured, eyes widening in shock.

"She just wants me to gain the fame she never could... But I just want to be a professional Shogi player like my father..." Tears start to come out from her eyelid, trailing down her face as she spoke. "I cannot just stand up and go against my mother... So please, can you help me?"

"Togo-San..." Shiho trailed off, taking out a tissue for Hifumi to wipe her tears. "That horrible for you to live through these things..."

"So basically, your mother was using you as her tools and mixed with verbally insulting you or just verbal violence on you..." Akira tch ed, feeling disgusted at what her mother had done to Hifumi. "We promise you. We'll investigate this."

A smile crept on her face as she heard those words from Akira. "Thank you." Hifumi said, taking out her phone to check the time. "Oh, It seems like that it's my time to leave."

She stood up from her seat and bowed to them politely. "I'm sorry to pull you all into this incident... But this is my only way."

With that said, the Shogi player left the Family Dinner, leaving the trio left.

Once Hifumi was out from their sight, Shiho poked his shoulder, looking at him with disapproval. "We already have Madarame to handle, how can we also tackle this as well?"

"Maybe we'll leave Madarame's palace for them to finish." Keigo suggested, pinching his nose bridge to keep himself awake. "This could be a simple Memento target... or a full-on palace."

"I hope that it's not the latter one..." He sighed and sank into his seat, changing the subject to a one that is more casual. "But now let's focus on something else, any idea?"

"..." Akira pondered for a moment before his stomach suddenly groaned, earning an amused look from them.

"I think we have an idea now." Shiho giggled, pressing the 'call' button for ordering meals. "Mom and dad are both out tonight, so I'm OK for a dinner with you two today!"

* * *

[17th May, afterschool]

"No meeting today..." Keigo muttered as he looked at their group chat, walking down the school hallway. "Day off from Phantom Thief business, that's great."

He pursued his walk toward the library until an unusual sight captured his attention. A young girl with curly light auburn hair and wearing a pink turtleneck cardigan with short puffed sleeves over her usual Shujin uniform. And she was carrying a bag of fertilizer down the stairs alone. Noting the amount of sweat on her forehead, he rushed onward to support her carry the fertilizer.

It took the girl a few moments before finally realizing what had happened. "Oh, thank you." She said politely, walking down the stairs with him.

"It's fine." He giggled awkwardly. "But why would someone like you carry these bags alone, especially with no one helping you?"

"It's OK for me." She replied, still using an overly formal tone. "Thank you for caring about that."

"It's a gentleman's responsibility to help a lady like you." Keigo winked playfully, but quickly regretted his action as she giggled awkwardly.

"That is... new." She said, finally reached their destination. It was a small garden in the space between the front door and the front gate and they place the bag down on the small trolley aside from the garden.

"Thank you..." The girl thanked Keigo, smiling gently at him before realizing she had never seen him before. "Have I ever seen you before? You don't look similar."

"Oh, I am actually new here." He awkwardly caressed his neck, internally cursing at himself for not telling her that. "I am Keigo Kamisaki, nice to meet you."

"Nice to meet you, Kamisaki..." She trailed off, noticing Keigo's strange blonde hair. "Um... No offense but, do you dye your hair? That shade of blondes is unique to say at least..."

"It's actually natural." Keigo said, still awkward from the situation. "In fact, I am one-fourth France and three-fourth Japanese."

"You are mixed-blood?" The young girl asked, tilting her head in confusion. "But your name is so native Japanese..."

"Well, it's because I am born here." He explained, putting both of his hand into his pockets. "My father had a French name as my middle name, just... I just never referred myself by that name."

"You have a French name?" Her interested peeked again. "What is it? Can you tell me?"

"Uh... It's not I can't..." After about thirty seconds of deep thought, Keigo decided to give in and told her. "Fine, it's 'Collin'."

"Collin Kamisaki... To be honest..." She pondered for a moment before nodding to herself, giving him a faint smile of reassurance. "That's a great name, at least for me."

"You like that?" He was surprised by her response, the mixed-blood boy coughed awkwardly before answering her. "T-That's new. I guess it's just I hate that part of me..."

"Why would you hate being a mixed-blood? Many people would love being mixed-blood themselves." The young girl was confused by his word, tilting her head.

"Actually... I've been bullied back when I was in middle school for being a mixed-blood." Keigo said, wincing for a bit as those bad memories coming back in his mind. "I think I've never really fit into anyone's group, until now." He paused as he noticed the look of worry on her face, quickly apologized for sabotaging the mood between them.

"I'm sorry... We've just met a moment ago and now I'm breaking the mood..." He apologized. "That's my fault."

taken back slightly for his sudden apology, she quickly reassured him that she's cool with it. "It's not your fault! I'm fine with hearing someone else's story."

Nodding hesitantly, Keigo decided to change their topic, stray away from his past. "Oh! Now I've told you my name, what about you?"

"Me?" The girl blinked, seems to be surprised by what he'd just said. "Uh... Since that you've told me about your's... I think I'll tell you something about me-"

Her word was cut short when a group of bodyguards suddenly appeared on the front gate of the school, catching their attention. "Oh... I forgot about that..." She furrowed her brow, turning back to Keigo. "I'm sorry, my father told me that I have to return home early today."

"Wait... Those bodyguards were yours?!" The mixed-blood boy yelped, but quickly regained his composure. "Uh... you're a daughter of some corporate head? Not that I'm going to distant you because of that."

"Yes..." She said, looking down in nervousness. "I am Haru Okumura, the daughter of Kunikazu Okumura."

"Haru Okumura..." Seeing that Haru was weirdly nervous about the mention of her own name, Keigo quickly reassured her. "It's OK, I won't stay away from you because that you're related to Okumura Food."

"Really?" She perked up, giving him a look of pure surprise. "T-Thank you..."

"Nah, it's fine." He replied with a faint smile, pointing at those bodyguards at the front gate, waiting for her. "You have something urgent to do, right? I'll help you clean those things up."

"Thank you... Kamisaki-San." Haru bowed politely, turning back and walking toward the bodyguards, leaving Keigo alone.

"Haru... That's cute." He muttered to himself, smiling faintly.

* * *

[19th May, Afterschool, Courtyard]

"The situation was worse than I thought." Akira said, showing his phone to his teammates. "I tried Togo's mother's name on the Memento... It didn't hit."

"Huh?!" Shiho yelped, almost chocked on her apple juice. "If her name didn't hit on Memento, that's mean..."

"She got her own palace." Keigo concluded the sentence for her, sighing as he crosses his arms in front. "Now that's a huge problem for us, we already have Madarame's palace to worry about..."

"Maybe Ren's group has to finish that palace on their own." The leader suggested, putting his phone back into his pocket. "I think they can handle themselves well."

"Yeah..." The volleyball plater trailed off, taking another sip of her apple juice. "Um... Now we know that Togo's mother has a palace, what about the keywords?"

"I've tried a few keywords." He replied, putting both of his hand in his pocket. "'Togo household' is the location, but the distortion part..."

"Still no clue, right?" The mixed-blood boy questioned, raising his eyebrow. "So we're having another investigation, fantastic."

"No! Just let me finish my sentence..." Akira shook his head in response, leaning toward the vending machine behind him. "I don't want to get into how did I guess the keyword since it's kinda complicated, but it's 'Palace'."

"A palace as a palace... That's 'very' creative." He deadpanned, crossing his hand in front of him. "So what now?"

"Now we know what is our goal." Shiho said, throwing the empty pack of apple juice to the trash can nearby. "What are we waiting for?"

[About half an hour later.]

After a short train ride to Kanda, they followed the map on Akira's phone and reached a residential area filled with houses only can be own by those who were higher up in a company. Or just celebrities in general.

"And... We're here." Akira said, looking up at the traditional Japanese house in front of them. "That's... larger than I thought."

"Togo-San was kind of a celebrity after all." Keigo commented, walking up to the doorbell on the side of the door. "Who's gonna call her?"

"Why?" Shiho questioned, tilting his head and raising an eyebrow. "She is not involving our infiltration."

"Besides, it's dangerous for her to come with us." The young persudo-detective added, taking out his phone and opened the Meta-Nav. "Whatever, let's see what's install for us."

**Mitsuyo Togo... Togo Household... Palace... Beginning navigation.**

After the mechanical voice from Akira's phone rang, the trio vanished in thin air, entering the Metaverse. However, they didn't notice Hifumi was looking at them from her room's window, watching the whole event played out.

"Good luck..." She murmured, returning to her daily life of practicing her shogi with herself. Until she noticed a weird looking app appeared on her phone for no reason at all.

"What is that app?" She said to herself as she picked up the phone and examined it. It has a red and black icon which shaped to mimic an eyeball. "I didn't remember I installed it on my own..."

The shogi player clicked open the app, only to see it's a navigation app or such, with a box already filled with information... a search history. Hifumi was shocked as she looked at the search history, hesitant to click on it or not.

"That's... mother's name..."

* * *

[Mitsuyo's palace, enterance]

Once the feeling of disgust passed, both Akira, Shiho and Keigo noticed that they have changed into their thief outfits. Turning around as the noise of fireworks suddenly rang throughout the whole space.

"Holy..." Jester trailed off, staring in awe as the scene of an enormous Japanese palace replaced the original Togo Household. It was covered with gold and white, the light projecting to every direction imaginable.

"That's huge..." Swan murmured, pulling her gloves. "Where are we entering this thing?"

"There must be an opened window or a hole for us." Roi said, taking out his grappling hook and pulled himself to the second floor. The other two looked at each other for a moment before firing their grappling as well, joining him.

After a brief run on the top of the overhang for a while, they discovered a narrowly opened window and quietly jumped in. The interior of the palace was equally lighted and luxurious, the floor was covered with a bright crimson carpet, the wall and ceiling were covered by gold and silver paint. A few shadows wearing a kimono and a featureless pale mask were roaming around the hallways and many rooms. Sliding a door open and noted the shadows roaming the area, they hastily hid behind the corner.

"All those gold and shiny things are hurting my eyes..." Jester commented, taking his mask off to rub his eyes.

"There's only a lone shadow there..." Swan whispered, peeking out from the corner. "I'll ambush it."

"We'll on our way." Both male thieves nodded, allowing her for a show-off.

As the shadow was in range and turned around, she quietly fired her grappling hook and pulled herself to the back of the shadow. Gripping the mask hard, she whispered to its ear. "Greeting."

Swan ripped the mask off and jump off with a backflip, Jester and Roi. The shadow twitched uncontrollably for a moment before melting into black goo, reveal a bringer of Misfortune.

"Persona!" She shouted, summoning Jeanne and rushed toward the shadow. "Giant Slice!"

The crystal Persona sliced the shadow with her saber, but did little to no damage at all. Following her up, Jester quickly summoned Moriarty and fired some shot to it. However, his shot was totally useless on it.

"All physical attacks are useless!" He shouted to Roi who was ready to attack, jumping to aside to dodge a Snap from the shadow. "Use something else!"

"OK! Persona!" Dodging another Snap from the Bringer, Roi snapped his finger and summoned Napoleon. "Frei!"

A burst of nuclear energy shot from the tip of the sword of the horse rider, striking the shadow dead center, knocking it down.

"Everyone! You know the drill!" The royal thief shouted to his teammates, the trio jumped back in unison before rushing to do an All-Out Attack, After a trail of smoke and beating, he jumped down and extended his arms before snapping his finger again, signaling the death of the shadow.

"Au revoir!" He shouted proudly, facing away from the dying shadow.

Once the battle between the shadow was ended, the trio continued their infiltration. Luckily, it was not as big as what they've experienced in Madarame's palace, or what they've experienced. Slid open a bay door, they discovered a small safe room which wavered to be a bedroom before returning to its saferoom look.

"Let's take a small break." Jester announced, taking off his mask and sat down on one of the chairs.

"We're making good progress here." Swan said, taking off her mask as well as she sat down on the table. "If we keep this pace up, maybe we'll finish this palace in a week."

"I hope so." Roi smiled vaguely, straightening his arms upward in exhaustion. "But man, the shadows here are much stronger than those in Madarame's palace."

"Yeah." Their leader agreed, massaging his shoulder with his other hand. "We're training in Memento after this palace."

"I agree with that." Swan nodded.

"I think so..." The royal thief trailed off, sinking into his chair.

Seeing that all three of them are still not enough to continue on, Jester decided to rest in here for a while before returning back to the real world.

* * *

Once they were back in the real world, the trio was greeted with the sight of Hifumi standing next to them, seems to be waiting for their return.

"Oh! You're back!" She said with a faint excitement, walking up to them. "Is my mother's heart changed now?"

"Heh? Togo-San?" Akira took a step in surprise, but regained his composure a moment after. "Why are you here?"

"Yeah..." Shiho nodded, awkwardly stroking the back of her neck. "That's creepy..."

"Um... It's just my room has a perfect view over here." Hifumi explained, pointing at the window on the second floor. "I saw you vanishing and decided to wait for your return."

"...Thanks?" Keigo hesitantly said, raising an eyebrow.

Sighing, Akira recalled the question she was asking. "Oh, about your mother's heart..." He paused for a moment, thinking for a proper word to answer her. "It's much more complicated than we expected, so we're unable to change her heart for now."

"Not able to change her heart for now?" Shocked from his answer, Hifumi took a step back and widened her eyes in horror. "But... But I don't have much time left..."

"You don't have much time left?" Shiho asked, tilting her head in confusion. "What do you mean?"

"Um..." She hesitated for a while, looking down at her shoes. "Actually... My mother has been fixing my matches for a while now..."

"What?!" The mixed-blood boy yelped, widening his eyes in surprise. "You're not kidding us, right? That's a huge scandal..."

"I wish." The shogi player whispered. "That's not how I want to be a professional shogi player... That's unacceptable!"

"She just wants you to be her tools for fame..." Shiho trailed off, but blinking in confusion when she noted something off. "But how could that produce a palace? That should be something belong to Memento."

"Yeah, now that I've think about it..." Akira agreed, stroking his chin in thought. "Maybe there's more than we thought."

Hearing everything from both of them, Hifumi tilted her head in confusion. "What do you mean by 'Palace' and 'Memento'?"

"Um... That's..." Keigo trailed off, looking at his teammates for a proper way to explain it.

Knowing their only way is telling the truth, Akira sighed. "It's where we go to after you saw us 'vanished' and where we shole someone's heart."

Nodding, Hifumi took out her phone and show them the strange app. "Oh, that's also something I want to show you." She said, opening the 'eye' app. "I found mother's name on it... somehow."

However, the trio were frozen in place, unable to believe what they've just seen.

"That's the Nav..." Shiho muttered, eyes widened in shock. "How did you get that?"

"I don't know..." The shogi player answered, shaking her head. "It just appeared on my phone for some reason."

"But you've never been to the Metaverse before... How?" Akira questioned, taking a step forward. "That should not have happened."

"I think we need some more explanation to do." Keigo sighed. "I know there's a church not far from here, how about that we continue over there?"

Seeing there's no reason to decline, the others decided to walk over there to continue.

* * *

[the church]

"Another universe?" After briefly explained everything about the Metaverse (aside of the minor things), Hifumi can only widen her eyes in question and confusion. "That is... too much for me."

"We know." The mixed-blood boy said in sympathy. "But sometimes, not everything is easy to understand."

"Also, don't consider changing your mother's heart alone." Shiho said with a grim look. "It's dangerous for anyone who doesn't have a Persona."

The shogi player nodded. "OK..."

Checking his phone for the time, Akira perked up at the others. "It's getting late, I think we should go." He said, much to her disappointment.

Looking down to her lap for a moment before standing up, the shogi player decided to leave. "I think I should leave first... to gather my thought."

With that said, she leaves the church and left the trio alone. "We should go as well..." Keigo trailed off, leaving the church with the others following him.

Taking the train back to Shibuya, their stomach groaned in unison, forcing them to find somewhere to eat. Unluckily, they chose the family dinner, again.

"Here again..." Akira sighed, leaning back to his seat. "I'm tired from all of this..."

"Me too..." Shiho nodded tiredly, pinching her nose bridge to stay awake. "This is worse than that one time in Kamoshida's palace..."

However, Keigo didn't say anything. "Wait... That's Ren's group!" He quietly exclaimed, pointing to the seat behind them. "Why is Kitagawa with them?"

"Huh?" The two old friends questioned in unison, turning back to see they're here with Yusuke. "Yeah... Why would Kitagawa here with them?" Akira asked.

"How would I know?" Shiho retorted quietly.

"I don't want to do any assumption but..." Keigo paused for a moment. "What if Kitagawa is joining Ren's group?"

* * *

With that, chapter 14 of P5: Another Thief concludes! thank you for reading!

Don't worry, Yusuke's awaking won't be skipped! It'll be like a small flashback to cover the 'nude model' event. Not only that... maybe we'll a double awaking in the next chapter!

BTW, I am currently considering the possibility of making Akira a wildcard. Since he is connected with the P3 cast, and Minato has the power of 'Universe'. Nothing is outside of the realm of possibility for him, maybe he can make Akira a wildcard to assist Ren and save the real Igor. But I'm still not sure of this idea.

Other than that, I am also considering whether introducing Kasumi Yoshizawa to this fic or not. But I don't think that I'll make her a Persona user.

Hope you would enjoy this story so far, reviews are welcome!


	16. Chapter 16: New members

[On the other hand, Ren's seat in the family dinner]

After explaining everything to Yusuke about Persona, Metaverse, Palace and Phantom Thief things. The young painter nodded in understanding.

"...I see." Yusuke murmured pensively, looking at the green tea in front of him. "And because of that, this PE teacher's had a change of heart…"

He grasped his tea. "The Phantom Thieves who steal hearts...To think they truly exist."

"I know it's hard to believe..." Ren murmured in understanding.

He took a deep breath, before nodding. "Indeed. I have to believe your words. Especially after seeing a world like that… So your plan with Madarame-sens-" He paused in mid-sentence. "with Madarame is to force a change of heart, correct?"

"Yeah." Ryuji nodded. "Nakanohara asked us to stop that old man, for everyone."

After a few moments of pondering, he looked up determinedly. "Let me join...as a member of the Phantom Thieves."

"What?!" The thieves all gave him a shocked look, glancing at each other for a good response for him.

However, the young painter ignored their look. "Had I faced reality sooner, this may have been avoided. I must put an end to this for the sake of the others whose futures as artists were robbed, as well." He paused, sighing. "That...is the most civil thing I can do for the man who was...in some manner, my father."

"Guess there no good reason to not let you in." Ren smiled vaguely, turning toward Ryuji. "Ryuji?"

"Sounds fine to me. We're gonna deal with Madarame anyways." He shrugged, taking a sip from his coke.

"I'm OK with it too..." Ann nodded as well, awkwardly laughed when she remembered how the whole event unfold. "But to be honest, I've never expected that it'll turn out like this..."

* * *

[Eariler that day, the street next to Madarame's shack]

Ann was standing in front of the door of Madarame's shack, her posture was stiffening in nervousness. If she couldn't trick Yusuke to open that door... She is going to be the model of his first painting, a nude one. Not only that, wearing the whole wardrobe on herself wasn't helping it at all.

"Lady Ann..." Morgana whispered, poking his head out from her schoolbag. "You're OK?"

"To be honest... No." Ann sighed, feeling very hot and sweaty from the layers and layers of clothes she's wearing. "Let's just get this over with... for the sake of that damn door."

"Yeah..." The feline gave her a worrying look, but compromised in the end. "Let's go."

* * *

[Yusuke's room]

Yusuke led Ann to his art room, smiling ecstatically while his back was turned toward her. "To think you'd really come... I assumed you were lying when you contacted me."

"I'm sorry it was so sudden." Ann apologized, standing awkwardly in the middle of the room.

Seeing this as his opportunity, Morgana sneaked out from her schoolbag, giving her a nod before running to the 'door', leaving only Yusuke and Ann in the room.

"Oh, it's not a problem." He reassured her, readying different acrylics and paintbrushes. "But as I told you yesterday, Sensei will be returning in about twenty or thirty minutes. So um… I'm sorry if that causes some anxiety for you."

"That's why I'm here, dammit." The model mumbled, earning a curious look from the young painter.

"What was that?" He asked, turning around to face Ann.

"O-Oh! It's nothing." She smiled awkwardly, stiffening even further in nervousness.

He tilted his head. "By the way...Have you gained some weight?" He asked hesitantly.

'Thank god that Ren and Ryuji aren't here...' The model thought, but quickly snapped back to reality.

Tilting her head, lifting a heavily clothed arm. "You think so? I weigh the same as always...Maybe I'm bloated today?" She asked innocently, eyes darting around.

Yusuke hesitated, giving them an odd look. "So, then...can you, um...get ready here? Whoever wants to start?"

"I...need to take my clothes off, right?" She asked, looking down in embarrassment.

The young painter swallowed uncomfortably, tucking some hair behind his ear. "Y-Yes please…"

Nodding, she raised her arms in preparation. "I'm embarrassed. Could you look the other way..?" She asked timidly.

Swallowing again, Yusuke nodded and turned around to the wall. "As you wish."

After a few moments of silence, a black tank top landed next to his feet. "...!" He widened his eyes, stiffening uncomfortably as he saw another black skirt fluttered to the floor. "...Oh!"

"Phew, that was tight..." Ann sighed in relief, only to make the young painter blush hard.

"Tight...?" He quietly repeated before quickly shook his head. "No, I'm doing this for art...!"

"Don't look over here, OK...?" She sang. "Hey, your sensei's coming back soon, right?"

"I believe so…" He answered awkwardly.

* * *

On the other hand, Morgana sweatdropped as he overheard the conversation between the two. "Jesus... That's was awkward..." He muttered, quickly turning his attention back to picking the lock of that door.

* * *

"Do you think we could do this somewhere else then? A little more atmosphere would be lovely…" Ann suggested, taking off another layer.

"This should be good enough…" Yusuke declined quietly, clutching his eyes.

"But wouldn't a room with a lock be a bit better?" She drawled.

"A lock...?" He tilted his head in confusion.

Sighing dramatically, Ann threw a pink lacy camisole at his shoes. "Must a girl say more...?"

"wha?!" He took a step back in shock, blushing even further. "But the only one with a lock is... Sensei's room…"

"Then why not there?"

The young painter straightened up at her words, coughing awkwardly. "I can't intrude...Besides, I don't have the key…"

After a few more moments, Yusuke decided to man himself up and turned around. "Takamaki-san, are you about-" He stopped. A few piles of discard clothes were next to her feet, leaving her in her usual school uniform.

"You were wearing all this?" He asked, gazing at the mounds of clothes.

"D-Don't you think it's cold today?" She laughed nervously.

"I suppose so…?" The young painter blinked, glancing at the window and noticed that the sun was slowly setting down. "The sun is starting to set…"

"Riiight? That's why a change of location would be nice…I mean, I'm gonna take it all off." Ann brightened.

"True…" He nodded slowly, crossing his arms and looking away. "It might make for a better picture if I can brighten my model's mood…"

She pumped a fist. "Uh-huh! That's right!"

"She may even be willing to try out various expressive poses for use in a dynamic composition…" A faint smile grew on his lips as he closed his eyes dreamily.

taking a step back, Ann yelped while holding a hand close to her chest. "Wh-What kind of poses?!"

Morgana squeezed his head through the small gap in the door. "Lady Ann!" He whispered. "You have to act! Get back in character!"

She froze for a second, before swaying cutely(she hopes so) side to side. "Let's gooo...I was just starting to get in the mood." She grinned teasingly, before walking out of the door.

"Wait!" Yusuke widened his eyes, holding out an arm toward her. "If you wander around, Sensei will…"

"Ohhh...It's soooo hot." She tried to mewl seductively from the outside... but turned out to be something out from a cringe compilation.

"Is that what she calls acting...?" Sweatdropping, Morgana ran ahead to the stairs.

"W-We really can't use any other room…" Yusuke tried to argue.

A black blazer fluttered in the air, landing in front of the door. "Hey, why not this one?" She suggested, stopping at a door.

"Please, wait...!" His eyes widened at the sight of the blazer, before quickly picking it up and ran out of the room.

* * *

[Madarame's palace, the door.]

Standing away from the infrared barriers, Joker and Skull shifted their feet, waiting for it to open. "They seriously gonna be able to pull this off...?" Skull muttered. "She was sayin' stuff like 'I'll just seduce him with my acting,' but that sounds outta her league…"

He slouched, resting his gloved thumbs in his leather pockets. "Plus we ain't got one sign this place is gonna open... Isn't Madarame comin' home soon? What if Ann really takes it all off!"

"How would I know?" Joker deadpanned, decided to change their topic to something else. "By the way... Skull, you seem to care a lot for her."

"Duh." The pirate deadpanned as well. "We've known each other since middle school, of course I'd be worried about her."

"Just stop lying." The gentlemen thief sighed, turning around to face him. "You have feelings for her, right?"

"DUDE!" He yelped, taking a step back in shock. "Of course not! We're just long-time friends!"

"I don't see it that way." He plainly said, stroking his chin thoughtfully. "Well, you're always the first one to help her when Ann is in danger..."

"Back when Shiho was going to jump, you're the one who calls me to run after her... You volunteered to buy drinks for her every time... And you put your life at risk to save her from being attacked." He concluded, crossing his arms while giving him a thoughtfully look. "With those playful messages you two sent to each other in the group chat, that doesn't sound like something a 'friend' would do."

"..." Skull opened his mouth to say something, but nothing came out. "I..."

"Calm down, I'm not saying that you're not allowed to go after her." Joker quickly reassured him, putting a hand on his shoulder. "But you're soooo dense sometimes."

"Dense? Why?"

"You're not alone on that 'feeling' department, it's a double arrow." He vaguely explained, putting his hands back into his pocket. "Just man up and go after her, I don't want you to miss this opportunity."

The pirate stayed silent for a while, slowly processing the words he just heard. "Thanks bro..." He trailed off, smiling vaguely.

And then he decided to turn the table on Joker himself. "Joker, if you're not into Ann, then who are you into?"

"Me?" Eyes widening in surprise, Joker pointed at himself and pondered for a moment. "Well... There's one."

"Already?!" He yelped in excitement, stepping closer and resting a hand on his shoulder. "Who's she? Any details?"

Blushing slightly, the gentlemen thief looked away in embarrassment. "It's only between you and me, OK?"

Seeing a nod of confirmation from him, he awkwardly coughed before answering him. "It's... a girl I met in the library a while before..."

"And you've only met her once?" Skull questioned, tilting his head in confusion.

Joker nodded in response. "We're on the same table and I was too focus on my revision... until I noticed her."

"I remember that she has short brown hair with a headband, and beautiful red eyes too..." He smiled from the memories, nodding to himself. "Even though she was kinda cold at first, but I think there's a softer side of her..."

However, his teammate's reaction was only a look of horror. "Dude..." He trailed off, still in disbelief about who his leader was talking about. "You got a crush on the Prez?!"

"Prez?"

"Makoto Nijima! The president of the student union!" He yelped, holding a hand on his forehead. "She's like an effin' robot! Where do you find anything attractive to her?!"

"I told you, I saw a softer side in her..." Joker argued weakly, looking away. "It's just that... I have a feeling for her."

"Dude... You're so weird." Sighing, Skull facepalmed. "Take this as advice from the bro... She's a hard one to get, a real hard one."

"I can see that..." He nodded faintly, but then continued with an optimistic tone. "But nothing is set and stone, maybe I can do it, someday..."

Skull opened his mouth, but was interrupted as the large door slammed open to the side, the infrared barriers disappearing in a flash.

The duo stared at it in shock. "...It's off!" Skull exclaimed. "They seriously did it!"

"Yeah." Joker smirked proudly. "Let's go."

With a nod from his partner, the duo entered the new area, running past the sign that said 'Treasure Hall Lounge'. "OK, let's find the control room, quick! The path's gonna close up if we dick around for too long!" The pirate reminded. "But it's just gonna be me and you for a bit if we run into any enemies. You good...?"

"Of course." The leader nodded, smirking in confidence. "We'll kick some serious ass."

"I'll be countin' on you!" He grinned.

They entered the lounge and there's only one security guard patrolling the whole hall, somehow. Noticing that there's no other way but to confront it, Joker sighed inwardly.

"Dammit, already...?" Skull muttered, clenching his jaw.

"As much as I don't want to fight... There's no other way." The leader declared, running up to the guard.

The guard flashed its light at them. "Hm?! Who are you?!" It narrowed its 'eyes'. "I see, that attire...You must be the thieves who dare threaten Madarame-Sama!"

Before the two thieves could say anything, the shadow convulsed and transformed into a Night Chimera. "You cannot go any further! You are trespassing on Madarame-Sama's territory!" The chimera warned.

"You guys ain't got nothin' on us! I'm more scared of screwin' up and havin' Ann yell at me!" Skull scoffed, readying his pipe. "Let's finish this quick and simple."

"Wholeheartedly agree." Joker smirked, dashing forward and slashed the shadow with his dagger before doing a backflip to dodge its attack. "Arsene! Dream Needle!"

A rain of needle hit it, dealing more damage on top of the slashes he made. Following his attack, Skull summoned Captain Kidd and commanded. "Persona! Rampage!"

The shadow was greeted with even more attacks from the two, severely hurt from the barrage of attack from them. "You brat!" It shouted, casting a Maeiha to them.

Thankfully, Skull was only hurt for a bit thanks to his new armor and Joker resistance of curse attack only makes the attack seems to be more laughably bad.

"He hit likes nothin'!" Skull Proudly shouted, earning an irritated grunt from the shadow. "Leader! Finish it off!"

"Gladly." Joker smirked, touching his and summoned the Embittered Blacksmith. "Ippon-Datara! Sledgehammer!"

The blacksmith swung its hammer toward the chimera, hitting it in the head and killed it.

Picking up the loot dropped from the fallen shadow, the two ran around and spotted a security room to his left. Slamming his hand to the button next to the door, they entered an empty surveillance area.

"Aw yeah! This is the room!" Skull grinned. "So...which one is for the security?"

"There's only one here." Joker deadpanned, pointing at the only 'on' laptop. Accessing the terminal, he clicked on the 'Disengage' option.

_"Disengaging security protocol..." _The terminal droned. And with that, the laser barriers outside of the lounge and other places all shut down at the same time.

"Sweet! Now the lasers in the courtyard should be off for good. Well, that's mission complete!" Skull grinned, pointing at the exit. "C'mon, let's get outta here!"

Even though more guards were emerging from the empty lounge, mostly from the inner gallery. They still managed to evade them and ran back to the open garden.

Seeing the fences also turned off from their actions, Skull pumped his fist. "All right, looks like the security's totally off! I hope those three managed to get away-"

"Nooooo! "

The duo stopped in the middle of the sentence and looked up at the noise. The sky suddenly wavered and opened a red portal with Yusuke and Ann(Now in her Phantom Thief outfit) fell out of it. Landing in his feet, the young painter held out his arms and caught Panther, internally wincing.

"What the eff?" Skull found himself dumbfounded, looking toward Joker for an answer.

"Don't ask me, OK?" The leader plainly replied, still in disbelief about what had just happened.

And then with a loud yowl, Mona fell from that portal too, Slamming against Yusuke's head with his own.

"Gah!" The young painter flinched as he toppled over onto the ground with the feline, still holding onto Panther.

"I thought I was gonna die…" Panther whimpered, before noticing the hands on her body. "...Hey, will you let go already?!" She shoved him away, only for him to fell to the ground with a groan-

* * *

"Hey! Can't we just skip the boring bit?" Ryuji interrupted, looking extremely bored from the recollection. "Ann, what exactly happened in the real world while we're in the museum?"

"Um..." Ann paused for a moment, hesitant to tell the event in the locked room. "about that room..."

"It's Sayuri." Yusuke finished for her, winced vaguely as he recalled the memories of that room. "Madarame actually never lost that painting, he just hid it away and claim that a former pupil stole it..."

"That's... disgusting." Ren commented, furrowing his brow in faint anger. "We're going to finish that palace ASAP."

Ryuji leaned back in his seat ."Now that we have you with us, you better not slow us down." He joked lightheartedly.

"I'll do my best." The young painter nodded, smiling.

However, the former runner's glance quickly changed from lighthearted to a warning one. "Also, no more nude painting."

He blinked for a moment, before connecting the dot himself. "Oh, you're Takamaki-San's lover? You seem to care a lot about her-"

Yusuke's sentence was interrupted as a splash of water suddenly sprayed to his face, and Ren's laughter followed soon after.

"I...I'm.. sorry... Yusuke..." Ren murmured between laughter, giving him a tissue to wipe his face. "B-But that... that was so... funny! HAHAHAHAHAHA!" He finished, not able to control the laughter anymore.

"DUDE!" Ryuji quickly shouted, blushing uncontrollably. "Ann and I are just friends! Effin' friends!"

"Y-Yeah!" The model nodded, also blushing furiously. "Why would I found anything attractive about him!"

"Lady Ann..." Morgana muttered, looking at her in fear. "Please don't tell me that you're in a relationship with Ryuji-"

"I'm not! Why you too, Morgana!" She exclaimed, earning a sigh of relief from the feline.

"Isn't that every romantic relationship start with friendship?" Yusuke questioned, tilting his head thoughtfully as he wiped the water on his face.

"You're not helping at all!" The ex-runner retorted, burying his head in his own hands. "Uggggh! This is the worst day ever!"

"Not- hahaha! Not for me!" Ren muttered, still barely able to hold his laughter. "Man! Revenge tastes great!"

"Revenge?! For what?!"

"All those messages in the group chat!" He took out his phone and showed him the old messages he sent, mostly are about Ryuji teasing him about... his 'romance' with Ann. "'No PDA in the group chat.', that aged very poorly. Hahahaha!"

"Wha-" Ryuji interrupted himself, burying his head further in his hand and groaned. "I hate you Renren."

"We've talked about this." Their leader deadpanned instantly.

"No! I'm still going to call you Renren!"

"Goddammit..."

Looking at them laughing and being a normal teenager for a moment, Yusuke unintentionally smiled. "Thank you..." He murmured, earning a confused look from the others.

"Thank us?" Morgana questioned, tilting his head in confusion. "For what?"

"For letting me to set myself free." The young painter explained. "If not for all of you, I'll still be lying to myself..."

* * *

[Eariler, Madarame's palace]

"Huh..? Sensei? Is that you?" Yusuke froze, looking at Madarame's shadow with disbelief. "That attire..."

"Disgusting." Panther glared at the shadow.

"This... This is all one big lie, isn't it?" He slowly shook his head.

The shadow hmphed in response, chuckling heartlessly. "My usual ragged attire is nothing but an act. Besides, a famous person living in that shack? I have another home...under a mistress's name, of course."

"And I thought that you're just a nice old man..." Skull muttered, gritting his teeth in anger.

"How naive!" The owner of the museum burst into laughter.

"If the 'Sayuri' was stolen, why was it in the storage room? And if you had the real one, why make copies?!" Yusuke asked desperately, wincing as his chest pulsing in pain. "If it's really you, Sensei... please tell me!"

"Foolish child. You still don't see?" Madarame asked, not wanting for an answer or sort. "The painting being stolen was just a false rumor I spread! It was all a perfectly calculated staging!"

Yusuke's eyes widened in shock and disbelief. "What do you mean...?!"

"Let me see... How does this sound?" He grinned maniacally. "_I found the real painting, but it can't go public... You can have it for a special price though..._"

"How's that for preferential treatment?! Art snobs'll eat it up, and pay good cash at that!"

"No...!" Yusuke muttered, fell into his knees in despair and realization.

"Kitagawa-Kun!" Panther called out in worry, hesitant in whether taking a step forward or not.

"The worth of art is purely subjective...Thus, this is a legitimate business transaction!" Madarame stated smugly. "Though I doubt a brat like you would ever come up with such a scheme!"

"'Money' this and 'Money' that..." Joker trailed off, clenching his hand in pure anger. "No wonder that you ended up with this."

"Effin' lier... So-called 'Stay away from materialistic', this effin' disgusted me!" Skull exclaimed, readying his bat to attack at any time.

Digging his nails into the ground, Yusuke looked up in betrayal. "What about the people who believe in you...?! Who thinks you're a master artist...?!"

"...I'll tell you this alone, Yusuke. If you wish to succeed in this world, I'd advise you don't rise against me." The shadow chuckled, crossing his arms. "Do you believe anyone could find success with my objection holding them down? Hahahaha!"

"To think I was under the care of this wretched man...!" He grimaced in pain, not sure about whether it's physical or not.

"You thought I took you in out of the goodness in my heart? Plucking talented, yet troubled artists allow me to find promising pupils and take their ideas..." He chuckled darkly. "After all, it's much easier to steal the futures of children who can't fight back."

Joker glared harshly at the shadow, more and more anger building up inside of him. Using someone else for their personal gain, this is his bottom line.

"I can't believe this..." Yusuke whispered, clenching his eyes. "This is..."

"Livestock are killed for their hide and meat! This is no different, you fool!" Madarame sneered, interrupting his whisper. "...But I tire of this little chat. It's time that I-"

"You are unforgivable." Yusuke declared quietly, earning everyone's attention toward him. "It doesn't matter who you are... I won't forgive you!"

"So...you repay my keeping you around for all these years with ingratitude...? You damn brat!" Madarame exclaimed in anger, turning back to the guards behind him and ordered. "Men! Dispose of these thieves!"

"This is not good at all..." Joker murmured to himself, looking around for a way to escape.

"Get back!" Panther yelled out.

"How amusing…" Yusuke whispered, holding his abdomen.

"Huh?" Skull blinked in confusion.

Before anyone could say a thing, the young painter started to chuckle, then it escalated to laughter. "It seems the truth is stranger than fiction, hm...?" He said, smiling bitterly.

"I wanted to believe it wasn't true...I had clouded my vision for so long..." He held a hand over his eyes, shaking his head. "My eyes were truly blind...Blind, and unable to see the true self behind this one horrible man...!"

And then, a voice spoke to him... from himself.

_**"Have you finally come to your senses?"**_

His eyes snapped open and he gripped his head in pain. It felt like someone is tearing it apart!

_**"How foolishly you averted your eyes from the truth..."**_

_**"A deplorable imitation indeed...Best you part from that aspect of yourself!"**_

With a cry, he fell to the ground on his hand and knees, blood coming from his fingertip as he scratched the ground, it hurt... but not as much as what in his head now.

_**"Let us now forge a contract…I am thou, thou art I..."**_

_**"The world is filled with both beauty and vice...It is time you teach people which is which!"**_

He lifted his head as a sense of calmness overtook him, a white fox-like mask covered most of his face. "Very well..." He answered, slowly standing up.

Gripping the mask with a graceful arch of his arm, the young painter announced. "Come, Goemon!" Tearing the mask off with a spray of blood, a sense of freedom and power surround him, blocking him from the world around.

Everyone covered their faces as they were hit with the winds, their clothing billowing harshly.

After the power died down and the vortex is gone. Yusuke was now wearing a black high-collared puff-sleeved jumpsuit with a striped sash worn across his hips, white motorcycle boots and bright blue gloves.

And behind him is his Persona- Goemon. A traditional Japanese dancer with white and blue rope knotted around him, acting as a belt. The blue robes billowed around him, covering his red jumper underneath and holding a large white opium pipe in one hand.

"A breathtaking sight..." He said, pointing his fingers outward and slid across every guards in front. "Imitations they may be, but together, they make a fine spectacle. Though the flowers of evil blossom, be it known... Abominations are fated to perish!" He swept his arms and sent a wave of blizzards at the shadows, killing them in one strike.

"Whoa, this is impressive!" Mona remarked as he watched in wide eyes, cold wind poling on his fur.

"Holy shit! That's effin' awesome!" Skull exclaimed in excitement, pumping his fist.

"Hmph...Who do you think you are?! The price for your insolence will be death! Where are my guards?! Kill them all!" Madarame brushed the ice shard off his kimono, commanding as new shadows spawned within the room.

"The children who adored you as 'father'... The prospects of your pupils...How many did you trample upon..?" Yusuke asked quietly, watching as his 'sensei' smirked in amusement. "How many dreams did you exchange for riches?! No matter what it takes..."

Summoning a katana in his hand, and he slowly unsheathed it. "I will bring you to justice!" He exclaimed, pointing the katana toward Madarame.

"Let's see what you're made of." Joker smirked, twirling his dagger as he ready for battle.

"Very well! Bring it on!" Yusuke shouted, grinning at his newfound power pulsing beneath his skin.

* * *

[back in the dinner]

"Yeah, it's nothing." Ren shrugged it off, taking another sip of the water. "At least now you're able to stand up for yourself..."

"Thank you..." Yusuke smiled faintly for a moment before frowning. "But actually, I contacted him before we came here. He believes that I continued pursuing the both of you. And, just as you all explained, it appears he knows nothing about his Shadow."

He chuckled for a bit. "He was complaining to the security company how they couldn't even catch two high school girls... However, he's still furious about it, and said that he's going to take legal action against everyone."

The thieves all tensed up as they heard the bad news from him. "Talk about bein' completely on guard..." Ryuji groaned.

"Legal action…He's acting way too desperate. Maybe he still has more secrets." Ann said, leaning forward in her seat.

"If he were to act, it'd be after the exhibit is over. Any scandal during the show would be his loss." Yusuke nodded to himself, letting go of his cup of water.

"So now we have a deadline." Ren said, checking for the exhibition's end date. "June 5th, and calling card on June 3rd as our deadline."

"about two weeks left..." Morgana trailed off, nodding to himself as well. "With enough preparation, this should be easy for us."

The thieves nodded to each other, and decided to change their topic to something more immediate. "So uh... Let's get the palace stuff away for a moment, I'm starving!" Ann announced, scanning to everyone for a response.

Everyone nodded in agreement, except for Yusuke. "Oh... I didn't bring any money."

"Wait what?" The three Shujin students questioned in unison, sweatdropping at the casual tone of him.

"Dude, you're so weird..." Ryuji deadpanned, pinching his nosebridge in frustration. "Are you even in the same wavelength as us?"

"I don't really think so..." Ren trailed off, taking out his wallet to see how much money he left. "Great... I'm only enough for one person."

"Me too." Ann sighed, giving the young painter an apologetic look. "I'm sorry, Kitagawa-Kun."

"'Yusuke' is fine for me." He brushed it off, seems to be accepted for the fact that he's not going to have dinner at all.

"Um... Sorry." Ren apologized again, decided to give his own meal to Yusuke. After all, he can just ask the boss for a plate of curry... If that works.

After ordering the food and finished them, they exchanged their phone numbers with Yusuke's and added him to the group chat. With a wave of goodbye, they went on their sperate way to their homes.

* * *

[20th May, Togo Household]

"So..." Akira clapped his hands, awkwardly announced the infiltration to Mitsuya Togo's palace. "Today is the day, mission start... I guess."

"...I don't even know what to say." Shiho shrugged, staring at him with an unimpressed look.

"Me too." Keigo casually agreed.

"Well, what do you want me to say?" The persudo-detective argued, even though knowing that his argument is mediocre at best.

"Just say nothing." She deadpanned, crossing her arms. "Whatever, let's go."

"Yeah, we should not waste any time here." Keigo agreed again, taking out his phone and opened the Meta-Nav. "Let's go-"

"Oh! You are ready for changing mother's heart?"

His word was interrupted as the voice of Hifumi suddenly rang behind them, taking their attention. "Togo-San? Why are you here?" Shiho questioned, tilting her head in confusion.

"Yeah, your schedule should be full as hell, right?" Keigo added. "I also heard that Kosei's life is a busy one..."

"Yes, it should be." Hifumi nodded, tugging some of her hair behind her ear. "But today is... a day off for me, I guess."

"O...K." Akira unintentionally extended his word, causing the Shogi player to look at him with a confused glance. "We're just going to enter the palace, so see you soon-"

However, Hifumi's sudden word interrupted his word, just like Keigo. "Actually... I've been considering for the whole night and day..." She looked down at her shoes, avoiding eye contact.

"I cannot just sit here and wait for you successfully changed my mother's heart... I want to save her from her distorted heart as well." The young Shogi player said, causing the trio's eyes widened in shock as they realized what she is leading toward.

"Can I join you as well? As a part of the Phantom Thief?"

* * *

With that, chapter 16 ended with a cliffhanger! I guess that we'll have to wait for another week for answers.

Hifumi's awaking will be in the next chapter, and the real reason for the palace to form will reveal as well! If I had to give some hint for the actual reason... She's not a corrupted adult like Madarame or Kamoshida, her desire for fame from Hifumi was coming from somewhere else.

**Akira: **Somewhere else, what does that mean?

Wait... Why are you here, Akira?

**Akira: **I just saw a door on this wall and entered it, now I'm here for some reason.

Wall...?

Um... Great, now the fourth wall has a door on it, fantastic.

**Akira: **Fourth wall? We're not in some kind of fiction, right?

Ugh... It's complicated, just don't question it.

**Akira: **For the love of god, please don't tell me that we're in a fanfiction! That means... I'm not a canon character!

Ugh... I never said that. Look at Minako, she's not in a fanfiction of sort, and she's been non-canon for ages!

**Akira: **She is!

Yeah... PQ2.

Whatever, Akira, you need to go back to where you belong! This is not a place for you!

(Pushes Akira back to where he belongs and locked the door.)

Well... that's unexpected. Whatever, hope you guys like the story so far, review are welcome!


	17. Chapter 17: Majesty

"Can I join you as well? As a part of the Phantom Thief?"

The trio froze from her words, mouth opened from shock, or disbelief. After a few long moments of total silence, Akira finally spoke up. "Uh... You know, we've told you that we are risking our lives every time to change someone's heart-"

"Yes, I understand that." Hifumi intervened him, determination leaking from her eyes. "But nevertheless, I still want... no, need to save mother from herself! Please, let me join!"

"You don't have a Persona..." Shiho trailed off, looking downward as she struggles to find a way to persuade her from joining them. "You'll just get yourself killed..."

"I know!" She shouted back, causing both Akira and Shiho to take a step back. Regaining her composure quickly afterward, the Shogi player apologized before continuing. "Sorry... I just let my emotions get the better of me. However, I am still serious about my decision."

"..." The two thieves glanced at each other in uncertainty, then looking back at Keiko. "Keiko, what do you think?" Akira asked.

After a few seconds of pondering, the mixed-blood boy nodded at Hifumi. "I think we should let her join. She does not get the Nav for no reason at all."

"where are you leading to..." Shiho muttered, narrowing her eyes.

"Think about it, the Nav only show up on someone who possesses the potential of awaking a Persona." He explained. "There must be something working at backstage to give her the Nav... As if fate is gathering us together."

"Yeah..." Akira trailed off, deep in thought as he started to think about why would she had the Nav. "I got the Nav because of being dragged into Kamoshida's palace by accident and awoke Moriarty afterward... Everyone I met all has awakened their Persona, Ann, Ryuji, Shiho... It seems really like that the Nav only appeared on someone who has the potential of awaking a Persona..."

"Akira?" The volley player said worryingly as he stayed silent, seemingly deep in thought. "You're OK? It's scaring me for a bit..."

"Huh?" Finally coming back to the world of the living, the persudo-detective blinked in confusion for a brief moment. "I... Just deep in my own reasoning... Sorry."

She raised an eyebrow in doubt for a second, but shrugged it off in the end. "You can be weird sometimes."

"I know." He dryly said, turning back toward Hifumi. "So Hifumi... You can come with us."

Hifumi sighed in relief at his answer, a faint smile crept onto her face. "Thank you... Uh... How should I call you?"

"What do you mea-" Keiko interrupted himself mid-sentence, realizing they have never done a proper introduction to her like... ever. "Oh, we've never properly introduced ourselves to you..."

"I am Keiko Kamisaki, or Roi in the Metaverse." He briefly introduced himself, eyeing Akira and Shiho to introduce themselves as well.

"Shiho Suzui, or Swan."

"Akira ichijou, or Jester." Finishing his brief introduction, he swiftly opened the Nav and selected the location. "Let's not waste any more time... Ready?"

Receiving a slight nod from everyone, he pressed the 'navigate' button, sending everyone to the palace.

* * *

[Mitsuyo's palace, entrance]

After the feeling of vomit passed, the three thieves turned toward the golden palace. "Well, nothing changed." Roi shrugged, readying his grappling hook.

"Yeah..." Jester nodded, but his attention was focused on Hifumi. "Togo-San... You're OK?"

She didn't answer, merely keep staring at the palace. "Mother... This is... depressing." She whispered to herself, looking down at her shoes.

"Depressing?" Swan questioned, tilting her head in confusion. "But it's luxurious... too luxurious."

"That's why it's depressing." Hifumi said, looking back up to the trio. "It's too luxurious... as if she is trying hiding something."

"trying to hide something..." Pondering for a brief moments, the gentlemen thief decided to shrug it off for now and focus on the infiltration. "Let's not think about it for now. We have a whole palace to infiltrate after all."

With that said, he tapped the Nav again, teleporting them to the latest saferoom.

Once they were in the saferoom, Hifumi finally noted the change in their clothes. "Wait a minute, your clothes..." She trailed off, observing their thief attire closely.

"We still don't know why, but our clothes changed after awaking our Persona." Swan explained. "Besides, it looks cool, right?"

She nodded in response. "I can see that."

"Can't we just... put those little talk aside for a moment?" Roi questioned, raising an eyebrow.

"Of course!" The white thief exclaimed back, forcing the two toward the door. "Just go!"

After leaving the saferoom and entered the brightly lited hallway again, they decided to adopt a alternative approach. (mostly because of Hifumi) Hopping from one cover to another, they avoid most of the guards entirely and only fight when needed to.

After a few lasting hallways and some unavoidable battles, they reached a room with a huge (as big as a person) dark blue safe on the wall, a number from 1 to 26 was craved on the steering wheel lock. seeing that there are no guards or any trap in the room, they relaxed for a bit and walked up to investigate.

"Hmm... Strange..." Roi mumbled to himself, stroking his chin as he examines the safe. "Why would a safe in here for no reason at all?"

"Well, it could be anything." Swan shrugged, noticing there are a few pieces of paper hanging on the wall. "Wait! There's some notes over there!"

Jester nodded and walked up to the notes on the wall, tearing them down and examined them with others. "It's all numbers..." He murmured, quickly flipping through the papers.

"Yeah, '7 18 9 5 6', '8 5 12 16', '8 1 20 5'... What does it all mean?" Hifumi said, narrowing her eyes on a particular piece of paper. "But this one... why did it have 'Togo' instead of those numbers?"

"Huh?" Roi and Swan tilted their heads in question, examining the paper Hifumi was holding as well. "Yeah, this one only has 'Togo' on it... Weird." Swan agreed, holding the pape under the light source above, trying to find some clue on it.

"Maybe one of the numbers on the paper is the code for the lock?" Roi suggested, approaching the safe and decided to input the code on the paper to the lock. "7... 18... 9... 5... 6..."

As a result... nothing happened.

"Nothing happened..." He sighed, inputting the other numbers on the paper to see if it works.

Unfortunately, nothing happened.

"Man..." Sighing again in defeat, Roi took a step back and let Jester try.

Seeing there's no clue on the paper, Jester shifted his focus back onto the safe, especially the steering wheel lock. "Hmm... There's only number 1 to 26..." He mumbled to himself, trying to uncover any connection between the safe and the paper.

Thankfully, he quickly figured out the real code for the safe. "That must be it!" He exclaimed, twisting and turning the lock. Unlike what happened when Roi tried those numbers, the door opened with a 'pop', revealed a map inside.

"So I'm right..." The gentlemen thief sighed in relief. "Turning the alphabet to number..."

"There's the map!" The royal thief said, taking out the map and examined it close. "Hmm... Good news, we don't have to find another map!"

"And it seems like that we're already halfway through this palace!" He finished, earning a stunned look from everyone.

"Halfway already?" Hifumi asked, tilting her head in confusion. "But it seems like we only covered a few floor..."

"Maybe the palace is not as big as it seems." Jester suggested, diverting his focus on the door on the other side. "But whatever, let's go."

With a nod from everyone, they run out to the other side of the palace and continued their infiltration. Slashing and sneaking their way through the shadows, they found another saferoom on the 5th floor.

Taking a short break in comfortable silence, they decided to quickly back in action. Reaching another set of stairs, they entered the 6th floor and only to found that its pitch black.

"...Jester, I have a bad feeling about this." Swan whispered to her leader, shivering slightly.

"I know... I got that feeling too." Jester nodded, preparing his scythe for a battle. "Roi, Togo-San, you're OK?"

"I'm OK..." Roi said, hand gripping tightly on the handle of his longsword.

However, there is no response from Hifumi.

"Togo-San?" He asked, starting to get worried about her. "Where are you?"

"Hifumi-San?" Swan shouted into the darkness, taking out her saber and gripping it hard. "Please don't pull a prank on us-"

Before she can finish her word, the whole room suddenly lited up with blinding light, forcing them to cover their eyes with their idle hand. "What the eff?!" Jester exclaimed in surprise, quickly adjusting to the light.

**"My my, thieves in my dear palace?"** A distorted voice suddenly rang through the whole room, causing them to look behind them.

They were in a grand hall the whole time with Mitsuyo's shadow - A Shogi with heavy make-up and a comb on the back of her head. She was wearing a bright red Kimono with detailed goldfish all over and holding a white fan in her right hand.

"So that's the shadow... She's actually quite hot-" Jester mumbled to himself, but soon interrupted as they saw Hifumi in front of them, taking each step hesitantly.

"Hifumi-San/Togo-San!" The trio shouted in unison, but was unheard by the Shogi player herself.

"M...Mother?" Hifumi said in a low voice, eyes widening in disbelief. "Y-You're not like that..."

**"Oh... you. 'Princess'."** The shadow's tone suddenly changed from mocking to downright dangerous. **"So you thieves brought her to MY palace..."**

"Something's not right!" Swan shouted, trying to reach her. However, an invisible wall obstructed their way, forcing them to merely observe as the event unfold.

"Dammit!" Jester shouted, slashing his scythe to the wall. "Togo-San! Can you hear us!"

"Togo-San!" Roi desperately yelled, firing his evoker to the wall as well. "God Dammit! It won't break!"

"Hifumi-San!" Swan cried out, striking the wall with all her strength. "Come on!"

**"It's useless... Thieves."** The Queen said in a hostile tone, returning her focus back onto Hifumi. **"Now 'Princess', how dare you coming to MY palace."**

"Mother, it's me who requested them to change your heart." Hifumi answered, looking down at her shoes. "I just want to save you from yourself-"

**"'Save me from myself'? ridiculous!"** She yelled back in fury, standing up from her seat. **"Don't you know why the king died?"**

"King? What's she talking about?" Roi questioned, still firing his evoker.

"You mean father...?" The shogi player murmured, eyes widening in horror. "He died in a car accident... ten years ago, right?"

**"But why would he not notice the truck coming for him!"** The distorted Queen yelled. **"It's because of you! You're the reason he died!"**

**"He was buying you a present for your birthday!"** She continued her outburst. **"If you were never born, everything would be alright!"**

"N...No..." Hifumi took a step back in disbelief, eyes widening further.

**"****You're the cause of everything! Mamoru would be alive if you never existed!"**

"I..." She slumped in despair. Tears start to fall along her face. "It's all my fault... Isn't it?"

"Hifumi-San!" Swan exclaimed desperately, summoning Jeanne to crash onto the wall with her. "Jester! Roi! Help me!"

"I know!" Jester shouted back, summoning Moriarty to aid him as well.

Crashing in synth with Napoleon, Roi cursed loudly in rage. "Come on! You effin' wall!"

**"Still trying to save you... Pathetic..."** Mitsuyo snickered, ordering her guard to grip her by her hands.

Abandoning all hope of surviving, the Shogi player turned back toward the three. "I'm sorry... For everything." She murmured.

But then, a voice suddenly rang out from her head, causing intense pain her hand as a side-effect.

_**"Give up now?"**_ The voice spoke with an unusually steady tone. _**"Where's your resolve? You don't build that resolve for nothing."**_

Finally Crashing through the invisible wall, the three tried to reach her, However, a pair of guards halted them mid-way. "Hifumi-San! Don't give up!" Swan yelled, struggling to break free from the guards.

_**"You heard her, right?"**_ The voice continued. _**"You've said you're going to save mother from herself..."**_

_**"Don't just say it, DO IT!"**_

With all these intense pain in her head, Hifumi managed to mutter some words out from her mouth. "Yes... Action... speak louder than words..."

"M-Mother!" She cried out, tone mixed with pain and determination. "I am not going to run away... ever again!"

"I heard you... DO IT!"

_**"That's right! That's my King!"**_ The voice cried out in excitement. _**"Since you've finally built your resolve, let us form a contract!"**_

Head shaking frantically in pain, Hifumi clenched and relaxed her hand multiple times while screaming in pain.

_**"I am thou, thou art I... We're the king who fights against our fate!"**_

_**"I am Oichi! The one who fights for love and freedom!"**_

The pain disappeared and with newfound strength, she broke free from the guard's grip. Feeling something, a mask similar to the one in The Phantom of the Opera with a red flower drawn on it covering her face.

"A mask...!" Jester whispered, widening his eyes in surprise. "She's awakening..."

"So my theory is correct..." Roi muttered, smirking faintly.

Hifumi gripped the edge hard with both hands, with her new strength, ripped it off in one go. "AHHHHHH!"

Blue flame burst around her and sent a wave od shock wave, knocking the two guards down. Taking this as their opportunity, the three thieves swiftly rushed onward and killed the two guards. But another wave of flame suddenly burst out, covering the whole hall with fire.

The three instantly covered their eyes with their hands from the immense heat, clothes shaking uncontrollably as the hot wind blew through them. "That's... not what I've expected..." Swan murmured.

In the center of the blazing flame, Hifumi was standing proudly, holding a naginata with white flower-like patterns on it. Her Kosei uniform was replaced with a dark blue modified kimono with black sleeves, the lower part of the kimono itself was shortened to look like a skirt with black stocking and thigh-length high heels.

And behind her was a huge female figure with blue leather jackets with armor plate-like design and silver highlight, a pair of wooden geta(traditional Japanse wooden shoes) and multiple massive hoops with blades sticking out floating around her. Her face was covered with plain white mask with two eyeholes on it, dark long hair floating and wavering.

_**"Rejoice!"**_ Oichi announced, spreading her hand outward in proudness. _**"This is the return of the true king of the Togo kingdom! Now with her new resolve and power, nothing is outside the realm of possibility!"**_

Rushing up to her side, Jester turned his head to her. "Togo-San, You can fight?"

"We'll be your back up, this time." Swan said, unsheathing her saber.

"I know." Hifumi nodded, pointing her naginata straight toward Mitsuyo's shadow. "Mother, I'm not backing down!"

Gritting her teeth in fury, she ordered an elite guard between her and the thieves. "Guards!"

**"Yes, my queen."** The shadow nodded, shaking uncontrollably and dissolved into black goo, revealing a red Oni.

Smirking in confidence, Jester spun his scythe in his hand playfully. "Le Fool, you're ready?"

"Yes!" The other three shouted in unison.

"Well, let's kill this goddamn Oni! Persona!" he announced, summoning Moriarty and discharged a few bullets on it. But doing basically nothing to the shadow.

"Oichi! Agilao!" Hifumi cried out, sending a massive fireball toward the oni. knocking it back

"Fly high!" Swan followed, dashing forward and jumped high, casting a Zio to the Oni, causing it to be shocked.

Taking this as his opportunity, Roi rushed forward and slashed the shadow a few times. Doing a single-handed backflip, he aimed his evoker to the head and fired. A blue energy beam impaled the Oni's head, knocking it down.

"I guess it's our time to finish it." The royal thief said, turning back toward the new Persona user. "Togo-San, it's all yours."

Nodding, Hifumi steadied her breathing and bent down, preparing for an All-out Attack. "...Now!" She announced, sprinting at the shadow with others following her. Moving in the speed of lighting, they assaulted the shadow with might.

Once the All-out Attack was finished, Hifumi jumped down elegantly with a paper umbrella in her hand. Spinning the umbrella and taking a few steps forward, she spread her left arms out and smirked as the Oni burst out his 'blood', dissolving into nothing. "I guess this is the end... Sayorana."

With the shadow's gone, the four Persona users turned their heads to the distorted queen. Taking a couple of steps forward, but ultimately collapsed in exhaustion, only to be held by Swan.

"Mother..." She muttered, panting heavily.

"Ugh... petty thieves." Mitsuyo hmphed, holding her fan over her mouth. "I will let you away this time."

Before anyone can say anything, she walked away with a flap of his Kimono, leaving the four in the grand hall.

"She... let us out?" Jester questioned, tilting his head in confusion. "That's weird..."

"Maybe she's not as bad as it seems..." Swan trailed off, observing the whole grand hall. "From her words earlier... Her palace seems to be formed from... grief and anger."

"She used to be like someone else..." Hifumi whispered, not caring if anyone heard her or not. "To think of it... She's like this after father's death."

"I know you got a lot to say, but we should be leaving by now." Roi suggested, taking out his grappling hook.

"Yeah." Hifumi agreed, struggling to stand up in two feet. "Mother's issue can be handle later... "

With a nod from the other two, they walked away together, leaving the palace.

* * *

However, unaware for them, Mitsuyo only left the grand hall by inches, back leaning to the wall. "...She only wants to save you, Mitsuyo..." She whispered, staring at the side of her fan which never showed to the thieves.

It was a portrait of better times, when her husband was alive and they're only a peaceful family. She can feel that times stopped, memories of the last few years of his husband surfacing in her mind.

Before she can realize that, tears slowly but surely started to form in her eyelids, dropping on the fan.

* * *

[After school, Big Bang Burger.]

After leaving the palace and back into the real world, the four decided to go to Big Bang Burger for a short meal. Akira and Shiho were sitting on the one side while Hifumi and Keiko on the other side.

"...Now I'm officially qualified as a member of the Phantom Thief, right?" Hifumi said, taking a sip of her water with a faint smile. "With Persona and everything..."

"We've already accepted that." Akira said, leaning back to his seat. "But now you have a Persona as well... A new teammate feels great! "

"Akira, you're too loud!" Shiho hissed, softly smacked the back of his hand. "I thought you're better than Ryuji."

"Sorry..."

"Back to business, OK?" Keiko deadpanned, but quickly returned to normal as he turned toward the young Shogi player. "Togo-San, now that you're officially and a Phantom Thief... I think you should have a codename."

"Codename?" She said, tilting her head in confusion. "Um... I'm not good at making names..."

"Well, how about 'Kimono'?" the persudo-detective suggested, stroking his chin thoughtfully. "I remembered that you wore one."

"No, don't you dare." Shiho hmphed, smacking his head again. "Hifumi-San, how about 'Queen'?"

"Nah, I think this belongs to someone in Ren's group." Keiko refused, sighing as he tried his best to think a good name. "Maybe... 'Majesty'?"

"'Majesty'? That's good!" Akira and Shiho agreed in unison, giving Hifumi a look of questioning. "It's all on you, Hifumi-San/Togo-San."

"'Majesty'... I like it." the shogi player nodded with a faint smile, tilting her head in slight shyness. "Also, please just call me 'Hifumi' from now on."

"Of course." The three nodded in unison. "In exchange, please just call us by our first name."

Seeing a nod from her and now the business talk is over, Shiho decided to change their subject. "So now, how about that we have a small meal before calling it a day, OK?"

"Sure..." Akira trailed off, eyes widening in horror as the memories of their last visit to this place surfaces. "Wait, don't tell me that you're going for that challenge..."

The volleyball player snapped her focus on to him, realization painted on her face. "Oh yeah! Thanks for the reminder, Akira!"

"Wait, you're still doing this?!" Keiko exclaimed in disbelief, eyes widening as well.

"She's doing what?" Hifumi questioned innocently, tilting her head in pure confusion. "What challenge?"

"The Big Bang Burger Challenge!" The two boys exclaimed in unison, their tone filled with fear.

"Come on, it's not that bad!" Shiho refuted, pouting while staring at Akira.

"It's that bad!" He exclaimed again, holding her shoulder with both of his hands. "We're not gonna do it again!"

Even though she still wanted to do that challenge, but Shiho compromised at last. "...Fine." She sighed, still holding a pout on her face. "But in exchange, pay for my meal tonight."

"Huh?" Akira snapped his hands back in surprise, holding his hands up in defense. "Uh... I don't have much allowance left..."

Narrowing her eyes in doubt, she leaned in closer toward her old friend. "I smell lies here."

"I..."

"Guessed it, you're lying for the whole time." Shiho pondered for a moment, smirking as she came up with an idea. "OK, if you buy this meal for me, I'll give you a peck on your cheek."

"For real?" He hesitantly asked, narrowing his eyes as well. "From the look of it, I'm not believing it."

"Not believing me?" She paused for a moment, holding her hands on his cheek. "Turn away, just a moment."

Raising an eyebrow in confusion, Akira decided to follow her order, heartbeat slightly raising as he clenched his eyes in nervousness. "Shiho? What are you going to do with me?" He muttered.

Watching the whole event unfold in front of their eyes, Keiko and Hifumi turned to each other and nodded in mutual understanding, barely able to hold their giggle.

"Come on, I told you what I'm going to do." Shiho deadpanned, lifting her hands from his cheeks.

Seeing his cheeks visibly reddened from the anticipation or nervousness, she giggled lightly before giving him a peck on his cheeks. In response, Akira's cheek reddened further, opening his eyes in disbelief and surprise as he froze in place.

"Now I kept my promise, it's time for yours." She said, pushing him to leave the table. "Come on, stop just staying there!"

"H-Huh?" Finally back to the world of the living, Akira quickly shook his head to clear his mind. "O-OK, same as always, right?" He shuttered, exiting the seat and walked toward the counter, a faint blush still visible on his face.

"...I think you just broke him." Keiko commented, standing up from the chair. "Hifumi, I'll cover your meal, you're OK with that?"

"Me?" Hifumi said in confusion, but shook her head a moment later. "I don't mind that. Thank you"

Nodding, he left the two girls alone and went to the counter as well.

Shiho stayed silent for a while, faintly smiling as she remembered the feeling of giving him that peck. "He tastes nice... I guess he's never changed." She murmured, quiet enough to be unheard by anyone.

"You two sure looks like an old couple." Hifumi suddenly said, giggling lightly.

"Uh..." The volleyball player paused for a moment, blushing hard as she thought about what she'd just say. "We're actually friends, old friends."

"Friends? But you two... don't act like one."

"We've known each other since... year one in middle school?" She tilted her head in thought, trying her best to remember those times. "Whatever, we had been that close for a very long time..."

"..." The shogi player nodded, stroking her chin thoughtfully. "Shiho, have you ever wanted to... be closer to him?"

"Closer to him-" She interrupted herself mid-sentence, blushing harder as she realized the true meaning of Hifumi's word. "...I guess, but he's kinda obtuse at times..." She sighed, head hanging low.

"Maybe." Hifumi said. "Or maybe he's just too shy."

"Nah, he's not like that." Shiho rejected, waving her hand disapprovingly. "I know him too well. He's not that kind of person."

"There are always two sides of one coin, same for a person." She explained, giving the volleyball player a look of encouragement.

Pondering for a while, Shiho nodded faintly. "I'll try my best..."

* * *

With that, chapter 17 had finished! Thank you for reading!

We finally got Hifumi's awakening! And we also got a better glimpse of how Mitsuyo really feel. With the nature of shadow being the oppressed side of a person, maybe there's something else other than hatred toward Hifumi.

However, let's us turned our attention to The Phantom, they also have done their infiltration for the Museum. But we still need a small breathing room before another big event.

Also, here's Oichi's stat:

Oichi\- lv. 19

Main elemental type:_ Fire, Psy and Physical_

RESIST: _**Fire**_ AND _**Psy**_ ATTACK

WEAK: _**Ice**_ AND _**Nuclear**_ ATTACK

SKILLS:

**Agilao: Medium Fire damage to 1 foe.**

**Psi: Light Psy damage to 1 foe.**

**Vajra Blast: Medium Physical damage to all foe.**

**Tarukaja: Increase 1 ally's Attack power for a short period of time.**

**(Unique Skill) Queen's Dance: ****Light Physical damage to 1 foe 3-5x.**

Hope you would enjoy this story so far, reviews are welcome!


	18. Chapter 18: Intermission

[21th May, Morning]

"So, that's the reason for the angle ADB is equal to the angle AMB..." Akira yawned tiredly at Ms. Usami's lecture, rubbing his eyes to keep himself awake.

"I need coffee..." He murmured to himself, pinching his nosebridge. "This is torture..."

Fortunately, a quiet buzz from his phone distracted him from the boring lesson, taking it out from his pocket.

**Hifumi:** **Sorry everyone, I'm going to able to participate in today's infiltration.**

**Hifumi: Mother is having a long interview with Tokyo Journal.**

Frowning slightly, Akira swiftly typed his reply.

**Akira: It's OK, Hifumi. **

**Akira: Maybe a day off from any Phantom Thief business is for the best of us.**

**Shiho: A day off? Really?**

**Akira: We can't just infiltrate with only the three of us.**

**Akira: BTW... I really need a day off personally. I got basically no sleep last night.**

**Keigo: OK then, I want to have a day off as well.**

**Shiho: Me too, actually.**

With that said, Akira put the phone back in his pocket. Finally unable to hold his eyelids any longer, he fell asleep and slept through the whole morning. Somehow went unnoticed by everyone.

* * *

[Lunch period, front garden]

Since there's nothing to do for him, Keigo decided to find the only person he knew outside of the phantom thieves. Fortunately, it didn't take him long to find her.

"Hey, Okumura-San." He greeted, crouching next to Haru.

"Kamisaki-Kun! It's been a while." Haru replied, smiling happily at his presence. "I did not expect you to come again."

"I guess so." He shrugged, putting his focus on those plants in front. "So... how's the plants?"

"They are doing great." She said, widening her smile as she took a closer look at them. "So uh... Kamisaki-Kun, why did you come back?"

"Why?" The half-French pondered for a brief moment. "I guess it's because I have a free day... and I kinda want to see you again."

"Want to see me again...?" Haru trailed off, a faint blush started to come upon her cheeks. "... Thank you... Kamisaki-Kun."

"Yeah..." Awkwardly rubbing the back of his neck, Keigo struggled to find a new topic to talk about. "Um... Okumura-San, why did you decided to do gardening here? It's not like that it's the best place to grow plants."

"Well... I did not have a place to grow anything back in my home." She explained, furrowing her brow. "Also father always takes me to high-class dinner and dances... I did not have times to grow anything outside school."

"Oh... I can see that." He quietly apologized, giving her a look of sympathy. "I guess it's hard to live as someone born in riches."

"It's fine, I'm used to it." Haru waved with a somber smile, standing up from her crouching position. "Um... The period is ending, I think I should go now."

With that said, she started to walk back inside the campus. Leaving Keigo alone, hesitating for what he's going to do next.

He pondered for a few seconds. Seeing the sight of her starting to fade into the background, he decided to ask her out, interrupting Haru in the middle of the way.

"Hey, Okumura-San!" The half-French shouted, standing up and rushed to her side. "Actually... are you free after school?"

Surprised at his sudden request, Haru froze for a brief moment before answering. "Uh... I think so..." She trailed off, moving her gaze away from Keigo. "But Kamisaki-Kun... aren't you friends with Ichijou-Kun and Suzui-Chan?"

"Yeah." Keigo nodded, raising an eyebrow in confusion. "But why asking me about that?"

"Um... maybe you should be going out with them." She whispered, still unable to look at him for some reason. "I actually don't know many places to go..."

"I can see that." He giggled lightly, putting the bangs on his head aside. "Well, I can introduce you to a few fun places."

"Fun places?" Hesitated for a brief moment, Haru nodded in agreement at the end. "Um... OK, so where are we waiting?"

Looking around for a good place to meet up after school, Keigo pointed at the door toward the courtyard. "Um... how about the courtyard? We can exchange our number if we needed to."

"I think the courtyard is fine." Smiling faintly, she nodded and gave him her number. "So, see you there...?"

"I guess." Giving her a thumb up, the two decided to part away for now.

* * *

[On the other hand, 2-D's classroom]

"Hey Akira, wake up!" Smacking his table and waking him up, Ann leaned closer to his half-asleep face with a glare. "Don't tell me that you slept through the whole morning."

"Wha- What?" Akira mumbled, rubbing his eyes in tiredness. "I didn't remember anything after texting in the group chat..."

"Also, Ann." Stretching his arms outward, he gave the model with a questioning look. "Why did you care about that? It's not like that I'm going to sleep through the whole day."

"Duh, I'm one of your oldest friends, the only one aside of Shiho." She deadpanned, leaning back while crossing her arms in disapproval. "So, you've never been this tired before, what happened?"

"What happened?" He paused, hesitant for whether to tell her about what happened yesterday. "Well... I didn't sleep well, kinda self-explanatory."

"Didn't sleep well?" Smirking slightly, Ann leaned close to him again. "Is it about a certain someone?"

"wha- How did you know?!" Taken back by her word, Akira instantly jumped from his seat, leaning toward the back.

"Wait, I guessed it right?" She sweatdropped again, but quickly changed her tone to a curious one. "Tell me, who were you think about?"

"You know who that person is." He said, furrowing his brow. "There's only one person who would cause me to be like this..."

Ann unironically was deep in thought for a moment, before finally realizing who that 'person' really was. "Oh, Shiho! How could I forget that crush you had on her..."

"Is it necessary to be this loud about my personal love life? Even though I never had one to begin with..." Akira frowned, eyes darting around to see if Shiho was in the line of sight of him. "Thank god that she's not here right now."

"Well, it's because you're so easy to tease." She answered with a panther-like smirk. "I had never thought that the way to tease is to say the S word~"

"What had I got myself into..." Seeing that he had no chance of winning in this conversation, he quickly sighed to himself. "Just... don't tell her about my crush... or just anything close to it." he whispered, a small but somber thought suddenly came up in his mind.

"H-Huh?" Noticing the sudden change in his tone, Ann realized that she may have gone a bit too far with her teasing and quickly apologized. "Sorry about that, I maybe have gone too far..."

"No, it's alright." He paused, trying to give a reassuring smile to her, but ended up as a somber and sad smile. "It's just that... some thought comes up in my mind and... I want to have a moment to be alone."

"I am not blaming anything or mad at you, Ann..." He paused again, looking down in silence for another moment. "Just... nothing." With that said, he quickly walked past Ann and exited the classroom.

Turning her eyes at the empty door, Ann whispered to herself, sighing.

"Akira... don't you see that she's seeing you as someone more than just a friend?"

* * *

[Restroom.]

After leaving the classroom swiftly, Akira rushed into the restroom immediately, splashing water on his face to keep himself calm. He looked into the reflection of himself in the mirror, he looked like he's about to burst into tears, and the splash of water didn't do much for him.

He wanted to say to himself that 'It's all just a stupid crush', but nothing came, he still couldn't mutter those words out. Unknown to him, his Persona materialized behind him, unseen by anyone who didn't have one themselves.

**_"Are you fine?"_** Moriarty asked, concern for his mood as he could feel those emotions too. **_"You looked like shit."_**

"Moriarty..." Akira murmured, a faint smile appeared on his somewhat soaked face. "Never thought that I would hear you again."

**_"I just think that I should not interfere with your life outside of the Metaverse."_** Moriarty said. **_"Ann said something and cause you to think about those times, right?"_**

"Of course." He nodded. "You are me after all."

**_"I know what are you feeling."_** It said, floating closer to its owner. **_"It's about Shiho... and you're somber about it."_** It stat as a matter of fact.

"Yeah..." He trailed off, looking down at his shoes. "Moriarty, do you know what's the most painful thing about having a crush on someone?"

**_"Of course..."_** The Persona paused, taking a deep breath before continuing. **_"It's the fact that you'll stay up all night for a small thing she did to you, but you never know what she meant for everything she does. It's boiled down to a guessing game, where you have too many choices."_**

"A guessing game..." Akira repeated quietly, still looking at his shoes. "Moriarty... Do you think she also has a crush on me?"

**_"I'm just as clueless as you."_** It giggled, covering its mouth with its hand. **_"But I would advise you to take that risk."_**

"Take that risk..." He repeated again, looking up from his shoes and took a tissue to wipe his face. "A day off from Metaverse business and now I'm like this... fantastic."

**_"If taking a day off causes you to feel like this, maybe you can head to that Palace to slay some shadow for distraction."_** Moriarty suggested.

"A distraction..." Akira trailed off for a moment before nodding. "Maybe."

* * *

[Afterschool, Madarame's palace.]

Slashing the last shadow in the whole floor clean in half with his scythe, Jester sighed in slight exhaustion and content.

**_"I told you that it's a great distraction from anything, right?"_** Moriarty said, playfully spinning his revolver in his hand.

"Yeah, it feels great." He took a deep breath before putting his scythe on his back, walking down the now empty hallway with his hands in his pockets. "But I think we might be a bit too overboard here..."

**_"Kind of."_** It shrugged, floating behind the black thief. **_"But now that it's safe around here... What did you plan to about her?"_**

"Her?" Furrowing his brow for a moment before realizing what his Persona means, Jester's chin instantly painted with dark red. "Uh... Now that I've calmed down a little... maybe I'll ask her out for a date, or some sort of those things..."

**_"Guessed it."_** Moriarty chuckled. **_"Just don't screw that up, Jester."_**

"Of course I won't." Giggling, He turned around and gave it a small smile. "So, since you're the other me... That means you also have something for Jeanne?"

**_"Maybe."_** It shrugged. **_"I don't really know either."_**

"Could have guessed that..." Jester's word was interrupted as the voice of somebody else suddenly rang from around the corner. "Crap. Moriarty, return!"

The dark blue Persona disappeared in blue light and returned as his mask, and he hastily fired his grappling hook and hid in the darkness.

"Joker, do you think it's a bit too quiet here?" It was the voice of Yusuke. "There' no guards here for some odd reason..."

"Maybe it's Jester's doin'." Skull shrugged. "After all, it's been a while since we saw him."

"Excuse me," Yusuke said, putting his hand up in question. "who is that 'Jester' person?"

"Oh yeah, you didn't know who he is." Looking back toward their new member, Joker explained. "He is another Persona user, outside of us."

"He helped me back when I was awaking Carmen." Panther added, smiling faintly at those memories. "I was about to be killed by a guard when he held that blade back, buying me time."

"Oh~ I'm moved, Panther."

"Thanks-" She stopped mid-sentence, turning back with her teammates toward the voice. It was Jester himself, standing in the middle of the hallway.

"What's with those faces?" He commented, giggling in amusement. "By the way, it seems that you've gained a new member."

"Name's Fox." Yusuke, now Fox introduced politely, much as their surprise. "Nice to meet you, Mr. Jester."

"'Jester' is OK for me." Jester shrugged, taking a few steps toward them.

"Dude!" Skull suddenly exclaimed, grabbing his shoulder. "Where have you been!"

"Huh?" Surprised by his sudden action, the black thief took a brief moment before regained his composure. "Well, I'm glad that you guys miss me... But actually we were focused on another palace."

"Another palace?" Mona asked, raising an eyebrow behind his mask. "What do you mean?"

"We were requested by someone to change her mother's heart." He explained. "We thought this would only be a normal Memento request... But unfortunately, she has a palace of herself."

"So you and Swan infiltrate that palace on your own?!" Skull shouted, widening his eyes in disbelief. "C'mon, why you guys didn't ask us for help!"

"You guys weren't the only one gaining new members." Jester deadpanned, crossing his arms. "Actually, Le Fool is now a four-member team. We have enough manpower to handle this."

"Wait, now a four-member team?!" Panther yelped in surprise, also widening her eyes under the mask. "When did you..."

"It doesn't matter, at least for now." Sighing and pinching his nosebridge in increasing exhaustion, the black thief pointed at the direction behind him. "Anyway, I think the treasure is close, like just over there and a few more rooms... And I really need a good sleep..."

Before anyone can say anything to him, he fired his grappling hook and pulled himself into the shadow, leaving the five members of The Phantom alone, confused.

"Well... that's unusual of him." Joker commented, shrugging.

Panther nodded in agreement. "Yeah, it's unusual of him..." She trailed off, pondering as she somehow felt something familiar in him. "But somehow I think I know him... weird-"

She interrupted herself as the memories of her awakening surfaced in her mind.

_"Ann, take it!"_

"Wait..." The red thief trailed off, gaining the attention of her teammates. "Don't tell me that Jester is..."

"Akira?"

* * *

[Earlier, Courtyard.]

Sitting on the bench of the courtyard and browsing his phone, Keigo quietly waited for Haru's arrival. Even though he didn't seems to be like it, but he is nervous and uncertain of going out with her.

"Keigo... you know it's no more turning back, right?" He murmured to himself. "Asking a girl out after meeting her for once before... that's so stupid of you."

_**"Sometimes, it's great for being a stupid man."**_ Out of nowhere, Napoleon's voice suddenly echoed in his head, catching him by surprise.

"Wha- Napoleon?!" Keigo internally exclaimed in surprise, trying his best to pretend that nothing happened on the outside. "You can speak?!"

_**"Of course I can."**_ The Persona jokingly said, still appeared as a voice in his head. _**"I just never found a good reason to intervene in your personal life."**_

"Because I basically have no life before now?"

_**"No. It's about Okumura."**_ It appeared in front of him, crossing his arms. _**"This is the second time you two talk and you already ask her out..."**_

"Maybe it's too fast..." He agreed, nodding. "But what done is done... I can't just back out."

_**"I know, you have feelings on her, right?"**_

"Feelings for her?" Keigo asked, raising an eyebrow. "Maybe. I don't really know either..."

_**"I can understand that."**_ Napoleon nodded. _**"Well, good luck on your date, she's here."**_

"Hmm?" Turning around, he saw Haru approaching, waving at him with a smile.

"Hi, Kamisaki-Kun." She politely said. "I thought I was early, but you are earlier than I expected."

"Habit." Keigo giggled, standing up from his seat. "Anyway, let's go, shall we."

Haru nodded and the two exited at the school, taking the subway to Shibuya.

Even though it's rush hours, they were lucky enough to find a seat on the train. Keigo let Haru sat in that seat while he stood in the hallway, being squashed in the crowd.

"Kamisaki-Kun..." She said, giving him a worried face. "Are you sure that you're OK with this? You are being squeezed in the crowd..."

"It's OK." He answered with a reassuring smile. "It's like this during the rush hours, I'm used to it."

"But... This is not good for anyone." The wealthy girl argued weakly. "Being squeezed in the crowd..."

"It's usual." Keigo sighed. "I guess you had never take a subway, right?"

"Yes... I had a personal driver from my father." She nodded. "Actually, this is the first time I went to Shibuya on my own..."

"That's..." He trailed off, looking down at his shoes. "Your father control all aspect of your life, right?"

"Hmm?" Perking up at her, Haru hesitated for a moment before nodding. "Yes..."

Couldn't find any new topic to talk about, the two entered an awkward silence for a while, before the train announced that they have arrived at Shibuya.

* * *

[Arcade Center, Shibuya]

"This is the place you want to bring me?" Haru asked, intrigued for the different games around. "Wow..."

"Yes." Keigo walked in front of her, spreading his arms out enthusiastically as if he was a host of a late-night show. "Welcome to the Arcade!"

She laughed lightly at his introduction, smiling brightly. "Kamisaki-Kun, do I get to choose what I'd play?"

"I'll cover the cost for you." He nodded, pointing at the machines behind him. "So what do you want to play first?"

Widening her smile, the wealthy girl walked toward the raygun machine. "This seems fun." She said.

"Oh, a raygun machine." The half-French said in mock surprise, following her and step on the 2-p position next to her. "It's been a long while since I've ever played one."

Inserting a 100 yen coin in the machine, it changed from the idle screen to the first stage. "Don't hold me back." He jokingly said, gripping his raygun one-handedly.

"I am new to this." Haru pouted cutely, also holding her raygun with both of her hands. "Let's see... a grande launcher might suit me." She mumbled, turning her attention back to the game itself.

"Pistol for me." He smiled.

With that said, the game started. They entered a warzone with bullets flying everywhere, they played as two soldiers and rushed to a pile of debris as cover. The two peeked from their cover and saw an army of robots. And both Keigo and Haru fired their weapon to those robots.

Keigo quickly fired a few bullets at one robot with pin-point accuracy, switching target swiftly thanks to his experiences in the Metaverse. Meanwhile, Haru is aiming at the large group of robots and spammed her grande launcher toward them, raising her raygun exaggeratedly every time she fired as if there's a huge amount of recoil.

"You did great, for someone new to this game." He smiled, still focusing on the game itself.

"I know-" Her response was interrupted as one robot suddenly appeared in front of her screen, causing her to yelp in surprise and ducked down. "AHH!"

Seeing the robot close to her, Keigo quickly moved his crosshair toward that robot and destroyed it. "I'll protect you, just aim for the large crowd!"

"OK!" Haru nodded, quickly shifting her focus back on the game itself.

Adopting the new strategy, the two Shujin student passes through the stages with ease. And with that, more and more people started to gather around them and watched them play, but both Keigo and Haru were unaware of those crowd.

After a few more stages and close calls, they reached the final boss fight - a giant robot tank with a huge cannon in addition to a few smaller cannon. Seeing the huge tank and swarm of smaller robot, Keigo put his other hand on his gun, gripping it with both of his hands.

"I guess playtime is over." He said, turning toward Haru. "Ready?"

Taking a deep breath, Haru nodded firmly. "Yes, we can do this."

"I know." Smiling faintly, he readied his gun. "Let's do this."

With that said, the tank and the swarm of robots started to attack them. Agreeing without any word in between, they covered each other and beat the final boss after a long battle.

Before the two have any time to take a relieved breath after the battle was finished, the crowd cheered for the two and caused them to jump in unison.

"Oh my god!" Keigo exclaimed in surprise, taking a moment before registered the situation they were in. "uh... I didn't expect to make a scene like this."

"Me too." Haru nodded in agreement, taking his hand and dragged him to somewhere else. "Let's play something else."

Before the half-French can say anything, he was dragged to a claw machine with Teddie doll inside. "Kamisaki-Kun... uh... I want that doll." She said with a faint blush, avoid his gaze while pointing at the Teddie doll.

"Hmm?" Tilting his head, he noticed what she's pointing and smiled. "Oh, you want that one." He said, inserting another 100 yen into the machine.

"Y-Yes..." She shuttered, nodding. "But maybe I should get this on my own..."

"Nah, I'll do it for you." Keigo casually declined, holding the joystick and smirked. "Trust me, I'll get that Teddir doll for you in one go."

* * *

[A few hours later, outside of the Arcade center]

After a few hours of playing games and taking pictures, the two Shujin students walked into the evening street of Shibuya, satisfied with their time there. They took a slow walk toward the station, enjoying the comfortable silence.

"Kamisaki-Kun, thank you." Haru suddenly said softly, smiling while holding the Teddie doll in her arms. "It is the most fun I have ever had in years."

"I know, right?" Keigo smiled. "Also, just call me 'Keigo', 'Kamisaki-Kun' seems too... formal."

considering for a moment, she nodded in the end. "O...OK, Kami- Keigo-Kun." She shuttered, turning her eyes to his. "If I can call you Keigo-Kun, can you also call me 'Haru'?"

"Of course." He bowed politely, mimicking a scene from an old movie about the royal family he watched. "At your service, Haru-Sama."

The wealthy girl laughed softly at his sudden change in attitude. "You're so funny." She said in between laughter.

"Maybe the French side of me is effecting my attitude." He jokingly answered, earning another giggle from her.

Calmed down from her laugh, she blushed slightly and looked away, playing with her auburn hair. "Um... actually, I want to have fun somewhere else with you again." She whispered, barely audible by him. "Maybe some other days..."

Fortunately, her whispered was heard by Keigo. "Of course." He said without hesitation, giving her a pat on her shoulder. "It's my honor to hang out with a beautiful lady like you."

"O-Oh..." Haru shuttered again, blushing harder than before. "That's... fantastic."

With that said, they continued on their way to the station, until a sudden rang from her phone, catching her by surprise.

Answering the call, the wealthy girl furrowed her brow almost instantly. "...Um... father, I was looking for new plants to buy for my room... I didn't find any good one... OK..." After a brief silence that concerned Keigo, Haru suddenly exclaimed in disagreement, widening her eyes. "NO! Why would you call him to take me home?"

The call ended after another brief silence, and her mood was changed to a somber one. "Haru, you OK?" Keigo asked with a concerned look. "What did your father said about... 'him'?"

"Father just called fiance to pick me up..."

"Wait, fiance?"

She nodded. "It's my father's decision. But I have no interest in that man..."

"Oh boy..." Keigo sighed, putting both of his arms on his hips. "So what do we do now?"

"He's waiting at the station." The wealthy girl paused, giving him a worried look. "Kaiko-Kun, I think you should go first... I don't want him to see you with me..."

Pondering for a long moment, the half-French decided to stay with her. "Nah, I'll stay with you, it's a gentlemen's responsibility after all."

"But..." She trailed off as she saw the determined look in his eyes, nodding hesitantly. "Fine... You can stay with me..."

Giving her a reassuring smile, Keigo and Haru walked the rest of the street in silence, this time both can feel a sense of tension in the air. They walked for a few more minutes before arriving at a black luxurious car.

A young man with brown hair presumably in his mid or late-20s was standing beside the car. He was wearing a white business suit with a violet undershirt and black tie. "Oh, you're finally here, Haru-" The man paused mid-sentence as he saw the appearance of Keigo, frowning dangerously. "Who is him."

"He's my friend, we just met during my walk here." Haru explained. "There's nothing between us."

Still didn't buy the explanation from her, the man took a step closer to Keigo and examined him, before giving a fake smile. "I guess that's fine. nice to meet you." He said, holding a hand out.

"Nice... to meet you." The half-French hesitated for a moment, holding his hand out and did a handshake with him. However, he winced at the sheer force he used to grip his hand, but he quickly hid his discomfort.

"Haru, wouldn't you mind to get to the car first?" The man said, causing her to frown before reluctantly entered the car.

Once the two heard the sound of the door closing, the man suddenly pulled him close, staring at him with a warning look. "Stay away from our business." He said with a low tone, raising his fist and ready to hit his head.

Fortunately, Keigo was fast enough to dodge the fist coming in his way, struggled off his hand and took a few steps back in the process. "You try to hit me again, but people are watching." He said.

Knowing that this is a losing battle of him, the man snickered and walked back in the car, leaving Keigo alone in the street watching the car drove away.

_**"Poor Haru..."**_ Napoleon commented, appearing next to him. _**"You should send her a text to see is she's safe."**_

Nodding silently, the half-French took out his phone and sent a text to her.

**Keigo: Haru, text me back once you're safe**

**Keigo: I'm worried about you.**

* * *

With that, chapter 18 had finished! Thank you for reading!

So it's a 'breathing room' chapter before the big battle with Madarame and Mitsuyo's shadow, and some more process in their love life~

Well, now Ann started to question the identity of their mysterious helper in the Metaverse, maybe the identity reveal is closer than we think.

With all that said, I hope you would enjoy this story so far, reviews are welcome!


	19. Chapter 19: End of plagiarizer (Part 1)

[22nd of May, Afternoon, Big Bang Burger.]

Assembling the other two thieves in the burger, Akira was sitting next to Shiho on the blue bench while Keigosat on the other side, discussing whether continuing their infiltration or not.

"So... we're going to the palace today?" Akira asked, checking those requested he found interesting and some from Mishima on his phone. "Hifumi texted me earlier that she's open for today."

"Yeah, I think so." Shiho agreed with a nod, turning toward Keigo with a raised eyebrow. "Keigo? How about you?"

However, Keigo answered her with sheer silence, still staring at somewhere behind the duo.

"Keigo?" The duo questioned in unison, ready to get up from their bench when he suddenly spotted someone.

"Haru!" The half-French suddenly exclaimed and rushed away, causing the two to yelp in surprise.

Regaining their composure, both Akira and Shiho turned around and noticed Haru on the other side of the glass wall, even more confused than before. "Okumura-Senpai? Why is she here?" Shiho whispered.

"On top of that, why is Keigo suddenly called her name out?" Akira added, furrowing his brow in pure confusion.

_**"I can eavesdrop for you, Akira."**_ Moriarty suddenly appeared behind him and said, causing him to yelp in surprise once more.

"Jesus! Moriarty!" The persudo-detective exclaimed. "Can you stop scaring me like this?!"

"Moriarty?!" Shiho, on the other hand, was sunk in pure confusion. "Why are you here? Persona can not stay in the real world or talk, right?"

_**"Unfortunately, no."**_ Moriarty deadpanned, somehow able to express emotion through his mask. _**"If my theory is right, Jeanne should be able to come out as well."**_

_**"Jeanne? Are you there?"**_

And low and behold, the crystal woman appeared behind Shiho, crossing her arms and staring at him. _**"I'm here now, you happy?"**_

_**"What's with your bitterness today?"**_ He asked, taking a step away from her. _**"It's scary..."**_

_**"Because I don't want to intervene with Shiho's personal life!"**_ Jeanne exclaimed, earning a shocked face from the two Shujin students. _**"Also, Ren, Ann, and Ryuji would spot us next to them, and you know what that means!"**_

_**"B-But..."**_

_**"No 'But'! Now please excuse me."**_ With that said, Jeanne disappeared in thin air and left the two and Moriarty alone, unsure of what to do.

"Uh... Jeanne is... interesting." Akira sweatdropped, turning around to face Moriarty. "And she's right, you should not appear in public... We'll be OK."

_**"Not you too..."**_ Sighing, the blue gentlemen nodded and disappeared as well.

"Now we know that our Persona can come out and talk." Shiho plainly commented, "What should we do now?"

"I don't really know..." he trailed off, looking down to the ground. "Let's wait for Keigo to come back. It's the only way for now..."

* * *

On the other hand, Keigo rushed toward Haru once he saw her, shouting her name in the meanwhile. "Haru!"

"...?" Turning around toward the source of the voice. "Oh! Hi Keigo-Kun."

Before she can even properly finish her sentence, Keigo gripped her shoulder hard and looked at her with a worried look. "Haru, you're OK?"

"I'm fine." Tilting her head in confusion, the wealthy girl looked down in response. "Um... Why are you worried about me?"

"Uh... I texted you after you and your fiance drove away, but you didn't answer me." The half-Franch paused, faking cough as a faint blush crept onto her face. "It's just that... your fiance is not what you think, he's dangerous!"

"I know." She sighed. "But father had arranged for me to marry him... in order to get into politic."

"Wait what?" Keigo exclaimed in disbelief. "You serious?!"

"I don't want to be serious as well." Haru sighed again, still looked down at the ground. "But father has been like this since our grandfather's death..."

"...This is awful." He turned around and remembered the two still waiting for him in the pavilion, quickly turned around and apologized to her. "Oh! I have to go now, texting tonight?"

Pondered for a moment, she nodded with a somber smile. "O...OK."

* * *

[Afterschool, The Phantom's hideout]

"Akira is Jester?!" Ren exclaimed in disbelief, pushing up his glasses. "Ann, why would you guess that?"

"Uh... It's just that he's too familiar for some reason." Ann explained, glancing at her teammates. "Back when I was awakening Carmen, he shouted my name."

"Shouted your name?" Yusuke questioned, tilting his head while stroking his chin. "But almost everyone in Shujin knows your name, right? From what you've said, he's a Shujin student after all."

"No." She shook her head, crossing her arms as she explained further. "He specifically called me 'Ann', not 'Takamaki' or something like that."

"Yeah, that's somethin' Akira'd say." Ryuji nodded. "Even I was calling her 'Takamaki' before she joins."

"That would explain his weird kindness and help he gave to us." Morgana said, climbing on the railing next to Ren. "Maybe we can confront him next time we met in the Metaverse."

"Why Metaverse?" Ryuji questioned, raising an eyebrow in confusion. "We can just interrogate him or something like that."

"He can just lie in the real world." Yusuke said, still pondering about something. "But if we confront him in the Metaverse, he can not lie and claim he's not Jester."

"So in a nutshell, we just push him into a corner and force him to give us a proper answer," Ren muttered, nodding and pushing his glasses again with a smirk. "Not only that, we just accidentally created the perfect time to confront him."

"Accidentally created the perfect time-" Morgana interrupted himself as he realized what he means. "Oh! Yes! That's perfect!"

"What's perfect?" Ryuji asked, rubbing the back of his neck. "How can we just call him? He and his team was working on another palace, right?"

"Yeah, they were working on another palace." Ren widened his smirk, turning his focus on Yusuke. "But we had just secured our infiltration route yesterday, right?"

"Oh yeah! We can send the calling card!" Ann exclaimed in realization. "He and his team are certain to be there!"

"And we can confront them when we steal the treasure." Yusuke added, nodding. "So about the calling card, will Madarame take it seriously?"

"He'll know best whether the crime written on it is for real or not." Ryuji grinned, giving him a pat on his shoulder.

"Wait. Are you going to write it again, Ryuji?" Morgana squinted as a thought came across his mind. "That last one was questionable at best..."

"You should do it then, Yusuke!" Ann grinned, turning to the young artist. "Make it really artistic and stuff!"

"No. It'll end with him figuring it out." He shook his head. "He knows my drawing and writing styles all too well."

"Oh, then I'll think it up, and you make it cooler!" Ryuji grinned, giving him another pat.

"Designing a calling card, hm..." Yusuke pondered for a moment, sweeping some hair away from his eyes and smiled. "Interesting. It shall become proof that the Phantom Thieves do exist."

"All right, you two take care of it then. Finish it by tonight and we'll post it at the exhibit. He can't ignore that." Ren nodded, giving him a thumb up and a reassuring smile.

"You guys better come fully prepared!" Morgana jokingly said, jumping down onto the ground.

* * *

[Mitsuyo's palace, 7th floor]

Slicing the final shadow in half and witnessed it dissolved into nothing, Jester turned around and gestured to a red door on the other side. "Let's take a break, it has been quite of a battle."

"Agreed." Swan yawned, stretching her arms outward.

"I need a break as well." Majesty nodded, panting softly while holding both of her hands on her knees. "Battle against shadow is more exhausting than I expected."

"You kinda pushing yourself too far, Majesty." Roi calmly said, giving her a hand. "We know that you want to finish this palace ASAP, but we can't just pushing and pushing."

_**"Roi's right, my King."**_ Oichi added, appearing behind her. _**"Just take a break and try not to push yourself too far."**_

"Oichi... not you too..." The Kimono-wearing thief jokingly said, smiling faintly. "But you're right, let's take a break."

With a nod from everyone, they pushed open the red door and entered the saferoom. Jester and Swan sat next to each other on the chair while Majesty sitting on the other side and Roi sitting on the table itself.

"So, what's about Madarame's palace?" After a long while of comfortable silence, Majesty broke the silence and asked. "Ever since I joined you, it seems that we just abandoned Madarame's palace... "

"It's OK, The Phantom is taking care of that." Jester answered. "I think their infiltration route should be secured by now."

"The Phantom?" She questioned, tilting her head in confusion. "Who are they? Aren't we Le Fool?"

"They are another team of Phantom Thief, and the real one to be exact." Swan explained, causing her to widen her eyes. "You might have never encountered them, but back during Kamoshida's palace, we are hiding in the shadow and helping them."

Taking a long moment to gather her thought, Majesty sighed heavily. "So we are not the only one..."

"Yep." Roi nodded, giving her an apologetic look. "Maybe the next time we got into the museum, we stop hiding in the shadow and fight with them?"

"Maybe." Jester sighed as well, leaning back into his seat. "I was considering that actually. Me, Swan and Panther are long-time friends... maybe we should stop keeping secret from them."

"We can use some help from them as well." He said, leaning forward on his seat. "I know that we are enough to handle most battles, but we still have to be careful about the battle with your mother's shadow."

"We are going to fight mother..." Majesty trailed off, looking down at the ground. "Is this unavoidable?"

"Unfortunately, yes." Swan answered, giving her a soft pat on the shoulder. "The corrupted shadow must be returned to her real self to change hearts..."

Nodding, Majesty suddenly stood up from her chair, causing the other three to take a step back. "Let's go back to the real world, I need some time to gather some thought." She said, walking toward the door.

"...She needs some time, it's understandable." Roi sighed, following her toward the door as well. "Jester, Swan, you coming?"

Glancing to each other for a brief moment, the two nodded and followed them back to the real world as well.

* * *

[Evening, the front door of Akira's apartment]

"OK... What just happened."

Akira sweatdropped, sighing and pinching his nosebridge. In front of him is a pile and pile of delivery boxes with red stripes and an upside-down apple logo with 'NERV Delivery' written on it. And unfortunately, blocking his apartment's front door.

Unsure of what to do, he turned around and walked toward his neighbor's door behind him. However, some voices from the apartment startled him.

"Asuka, put it over here!" A boy's voice called out, following by some sound of moving a sofa.

"OK... Moving sucks... right, Baka-Shinji?" 'Asuka' sighed.

"Yeah, and with all those boxes outside..." 'Baka-Shinji' trailed off. "Misato-San, you said that Rei, Mari, Touji and Kensuke are moving here sometime later, right?"

"Yeah... how can this apartment enough for eight people to live in here?"

"Hikari is coming too."

"Huh?! You serious Asuka?"

"Of course I am, Baka-Shinji!"

"Uh... You don't need to be this hostile to him, Asuka."

Quickly snapped himself from eavesdropping his neighbor's conversation, Akira rang the bell and gained their attention. "Who's there?" 'Asuka' asked.

"I'll get the door." 'Baka-Shinji' said, walking down to the door and quickly opened it. It was a young boy with medium-length straight brown hair and grey-blue eyes, and he's about a similar age as Akira himself.

"Uh... Greetings." Akira awkwardly introduced, waving politely to the young boy. "I am your neighbor and... your boxes are blocking my apartment's door."

Peeking to the door behind him, the boy quickly apologized to him. "Oh, I'm sorry."

Before Akira can say anything, a young girl with long reddish-orange hair and blue eyes suddenly walked up to him from behind, clearly unimpressed with his apology. "Can't you just stop apologizing for a second, Baka-Shinji?"

The young boy called 'Baka-Shinji' paused for a moment, turning around and frowned. "But it's our fault that our neighbor's door gets blocked."

"Still, I'm sick with you constantly apologizing!" The redhead retorted, crossing her arms.

"Asuka, we've talked about this!"

seeing the argument between them start to escalate, Akira swiftly coughed, interrupting them. "Um... can we just deal with those boxes first?"

"...Oh, sorry about that." The redhead apologized, dragging the boy by his ears to put those boxes away.

"...You two seem to be close." Akira commented at her action, gaining a death glare from her. "Uh..."

"We have been roommates for over a year now..." The boy trailed off, sharing a look with the girl before turning back to Akira. "We actually just moved here today."

"I heard that." The persudo-detective nodded, rubbing the back of his neck. "Since we're going to be neighbors... How about that we introduce ourselves?"

"Introduce ourselves?" The two new arrivals glanced at each other for a moment, but shrugged at the end. "Fine."

"Let me do it first." The redhead cleared her throat, putting her arms on her hips. "I am Asuka Langley Sohryu, nice to meet you."

"Shinji Ikari." The boy now named 'Shinji' quietly introduced, giving Akira a small smile. "Nice to meet you too."

"Uh... I am Akira Ichijou." Akira awkwardly introduced himself, holding a hand out toward them. "uh... Nice to meet you two!"

Sweatdropping, both Shinji and Asuka shook his hand. "This is awkward..." Asuka remarked, sighing.

"I know." Shinji agreed, glancing at the door of Akira's apartment. "Uh... Ichijou-San, now that your door is cleared from our boxes..."

Turning back at the door to his apartment, he gave them a small smile before entering his home, leaving the two alone in the corridor.

"He's kind, but a bit weird." Asuka commented, giving Shinji a questioned look. "What do you think about him?"

"Same as you, Asuka." Shinji shrugged, walking back to their apartment with Asuka following him.

* * *

[23rd of May, after school]

The calling card has been sent.

Madarame's exhibition has been covered with an almost identical calling card to Kamoshida's. Everyone has seen it and murmuring was all over this exhibition now.

"Pardon me, sir." An exhibit staff walked up to Madarame, taking him to the side. "There's a matter we need to notify you about..."

The elderly artist nodded before turning to his associates. "Please excuse me for a moment." He said with an polite wave, following the staff to side. The thieves watched from afar, trying their best to act like normal.

"What is it...?"

"We found this outside..." The staff trailed off, hesitantly handed a calling card to him.

"A letter?" Madarame asked, raising an eyebrow in confusion.

"It's...uh..."

Madarame accepted the calling card, giving it a close examination. He furrowed his brow as he saw the logo- A red and black tophat with a white mask with a fire-like edge under it. He flipped the card around, noticing the message on it.

"'Sir_ Ichiryusai Madarame, a great sinner of vanity whose talent has been exhausted. You are an artist who uses his authority to shamelessly steal the ideas of his pupils. We have decided to make you confess all your crimes with your own mouth. We will take your distorted desires without fail. From Phantom Thief of Heart- The Phantom...'_" The staff recited nervously, glancing at the artist with worry.

"Who's doing is this...?!" He asked sharply, tore the calling card into pieces as he darkened his face.

"We don't know!" The staff stammered, taking a few steps back un fear. "The same letter has been posted everywhere..."

"What about the security cameras?!"

"There were no signs of the culprit... All we saw was a cat in the recordings..."

Glaring harshly at him, Madarame exclaimed in rage. "Remove these at once!"

The staff nodded his head hastily. "Of course! But um..."

"...What now?!"

"It's about this affecting the exhibit...We believe it's just a prank, but what of the mass media?" The employee whispered, taking a step closer and covering his mouth from the onlookers.

"Are you insinuating that this slander is true...?"

"Of course not!"

The air suddenly fuzzed like TV static, and Madarame was replaced with his shadow self. "It's those damn brats' doing, isn't it?" He growled, voice distorted. "Well, it means nothing...They'll only be able to do as they please until this exhibit is over..." With a flash, the world turned back to normal.

"Will that do...?" Yusuke asked uncertainly, turning around to his teammates.

"Yup! It was perfect!" Ann nodded with a smile. "The composition was way cooler too!"

"The Treasure should appear right about now." Morgana said, peeking out of his bag.

"You better enjoy the air of freedom while you still can, old man." Ryuji muttered, glancing at the old artist before turning back to his team. "Anyways, d'you guys check online? People are already talkin' about that callin' card."

"We'll show 'em...We're gonna surprise 'em all!"

"Yeah." Ren nodded, pushing his glasses. "Remember, we only got one chance. We're going to count on each other."

"Right back at you." Ann replied with a thumbs up.

Smiling faintly, the leader nodded. "Yeah, let's do this."

On the other hand, the four thieves of Le Fool were gathered in front of Madarame's shack once they heard about the news of the calling card. Akira was holding his phone with the Meta-Nav opened, readied to enter the museum.

"I didn't expect them to be this early." Keigo commented, leaning at the steel fences behind him. "But in all and all, are we going to unmask ourselves?"

"Mostly." Akira replied, taking a deep breath before continuing. "Ann is going to kill me after this..."

"You're not alone on this one." Shiho muttered, taking a step closer to his side. "How would Ann react to us being Persona user..."

"It's not important right now." Hifumi said, causing both teens to give her a confused look. "I know I am the new one here... but should we finish the business about Madarame first?"

"You're right." The persudo-detective nodded, pressing the navigation button and sent themselves to the Metaverse.

* * *

[Madarame's palace]

Putting his phone back in his pocket, Jester looked up at the museum. The usual golden exterior of the build was now accompanied by a red tinge. "The atmosphere is... different." Majesty remarked, looking around the museum itself.

"Yeah, not only that it's on high alert, it's produced by a totally rotted person." Swan answered. "Hey, at least it's your first time to experience a heist."

"Anyway, we should get going." Jester announced, taking his grappling hook out. "Let's go."

They fired their grappling together and pulled themselves to the garden outside. Instead of dropping in through the opened window like usual, they sprinted on the rooftop to the open courtyard near the treasure hall.

They were about to continue on when Roi noticed the other five thieves down at the courtyard, quickly stopping his teammates from jumping to the next building. "Hey! It's them!"

Quickly hiding in the ledge of the building, the four watches. "Uh... Jester," Majesty whispered, pointing at Mona down with them. "What is that cat?"

"It's Mona." Jester shrugged. "There are many things weird about the Metaverse, and Mona is one of them... So just don't question that."

"I see." She nodded hesitantly, turning her attention back at observing The Phantom for now.

Glancing back at the treasure hall and how empty that is, Fox turned back to his teammates. "It seems we managed to escape their siege."

"Hope so." Joker said, leading the group a little further before Mona suddenly stopped.

"Mrrr... Meowww..."

"Dude..." Skull sweatdropped. "Why's Mona gettin' excited now of all times...?"

"I just can't take it anymore! Let's take a look at this Treasure...!" Mona drooled, dropping the portrait on the floor and unfurled the fabric around it, exposing the back of the frame. "Treasure!"

The others watched, curiosity overtaking their need to escape.

Grinning, Mona turned the portrait over and his face fell. "You've got to be kidding me." Instead of any beautiful portrait they were expecting, it was a portrait made up of Japanese syllables, mocking the thieves.

"This is the Treasure?!" Skull exclaimed, widening his eyes in disbelief.

"We're bamboozled, great..." Joker sighed, putting his hands on his hips.

Hearing static starting to buzz around them, Fox snapped back to his sorrounding and noticed the poles poked up from the ground. "Get back!" He warned, and they quickly jumped back away from the portrait, just in time for them to avoid the electric field.

"Not only we've been bamboozled, but it was also a trap all along." The leader sighed, internally cursing to himself.

"Meddlesome vermin."

They turned to see Madarame enter the courtyard from the treasure hall with a few guards around him. The thieves quickly regrouped together, ready for a battle.

"This is not good." Swan whispered to herself, aiming her sniper rifle to the shadow, turning off the safety.

"Don't shoot him." Jester said, putting his hand on the barrel. "He seems to have something to say."

"Is this what you're looking for?" Madarame jerked his chin at one of the guards who held a golden frame in its arm.

Mona glared at him. "What nonsense that you used a mousetrap on me!"

Skull clenched a fist. "So you had a fake prepped, huh?!"

"Counterfeits are accepted in the world of Japanese art." The shadow explained coolly, lifting a brow.

Clenching his fist tight, Fox took a step forward. "What made you change like this?! Is it because you became famous?!" He shouted, staring at his former mentor with sadness. "Can't you understand how much it pains me to inquire about the crimes of my foster father?!"

"...Now that I think back, the only reason why I took you in was due to my ties with your mother." Madarame replied. "That woman never lost her passion for painting even after her husband died. Her skills and talents were quite astonishing...That's why I decided to look after her."

"No..." Majesty's eyes widened in horror, realizing where it's going. "This can't be..."

"Jester, when are we going to finish this human trash." Swan asked, turning at her leader.

"I want to finish him right now and right here too..." Jester admitted, lifting his hand from her sniper rifle. "But if we just kill his shadow... it'll just turn into a mental shutdown..."

She internally cursed to herself, lowering her rifle. "You're right..."

"That's right." Madarame grinned viciously, spreading his arms out as if he's making a proud statement. "Your mother and the artwork she created- they're all MY works of art!"

"How low can you sink...?" Panther glowered.

"I suppose I can grant you a gift before you die- a glimpse of the genuine 'Sayuri'...!" The shadow chuckled darkly, gesturing to the guard.

"Genuine...?" Fox froze.

The guard Madarame gestured walked forward, lifting the portrait in the air for everyone to see. It was an almost identical portrait to the 'Sayuri' they had seen, but the mist clouding her lower body was gone. She was holding a baby with care and love, smiling down to him.

"That's... the real 'Sayuri'...?" Fox breathed, observing the painting with wide eyes. "This can't be...!" He flinched as the truth hit him hard. "Mom...!"

"Huh?!" Skull gasped, the others also stared at him in surprise.

"You've got to be kidding me..." Joker trailed off, turning back to the portrait.

"Indeed it is." Madarame confirmed with a nod, smirking viciously. "This was painted by your mother. It's a portrait of herself. A woman who knew her death was coming painted her last wishes, for the son she would leave behind."

"That is the truth behind the mystery of 'Sayuri's expression!"

"This is straight-up disgusting..." Majesty said darkly, holding her semi-automatic rifle.

"You stole something THAT personal...?!" Skull snarled, stomping his boots and cracked the tile beneath.

"I knew at first glance. I knew it'd be a huge success if I added a touch to the painting and announced it under my name!" Madarame only smirked to them in response.

"But the baby in the picture..." Fox stared at it silently, eyes still widened. "Why did you paint over it...?"

"...It was all to stage it." The shadow answered coolly. "If the babe is erased, the reason for the woman's expression will become a mystery..! That is what the general public is drawn to! Each of those parasitic critics wrote the same thing!"

"I always felt something was off about all this... Now I know what it is." Panther glared at him, shaking her head in disgust. "If you really treasured that painting, you wouldn't even think about replicating it for profit!"

"You don't love art at all!"

"Though you have a real Treasure, your true skills are nothing more than those scribbles on that fake!" Mona nodded in agreement, taking a step forward.

"It makes me laugh, asshole!" Skull growled. "To hear you think of yourself as a real artist, when you've been stealin' from real ones for years!"

"So you'll defy me no matter what..." Madarame sneered. "Well then, since you're my work of art, Yusuke, I'm going to reap you for the sake of my future...Along with those insolent friends of yours there."

"I can't believe you're treating both mother and son like they're objects... You're inhuman!" Panther exclaimed in anger.

However, Fox stood still as he came with a realization. "I've heard that you destroy your "art" once they outlive their usefulness... Did that include my mother as well?"

"No...!" Everyone stared at him in shock, a chill going down their spines at the thought.

"Everyone, ready to jump down at any moment." Jester whispered to his teammates, pulling out his revolver. "I don't like where he's going to..."

"She just so happened to have a seizure in front of me." He revealed, giving them the widest smirk he had ever done. "That's when a thought crossed my mind...If I don't call for help and leave her be, I could obtain her painting without any strings attached."

"You let her DIE?!" Panther exclaimed, covering her mouth in horror.

"She was physically weak. No one would doubt if she just dropped dead because of a seizure. Above all, Yusuke," Madarame chuckled, turning to his pupil. "Didn't you think it was odd that I discovered your talent when you were only three?"

"The reason why I kept you around was to keep you from realizing the truth behind 'Sayuri.'"

"You killed her...!" Fox growled darkly, clenching his fist tightly till his nails pierced through his gloves.

"The artistic talents you inherited from your mother were a delightful miscalculation though." He continued. "If I'm to steal ideas, it's much easier robbing the future of brats who won't talk back than adults. It's thanks to you that I came up with the idea."

"You have my gratitude."

"That's it, we're going now." Clenching his revolver's handle hard, Jester took a few steps back before sprinting forward at full speed, jumping off the rooftop. Nodding, the other three followed as well.

Aiming at the head of that one guard who was holding the portrait, Jester and Swan fired their guns in unison and hit straight in the head of that guard. Causing everyone to pause in surprise.

"What just happene-" Before Skull can finish his word, the four thieves of Le Fool landed in crouching position between them and Madarame, weapons in their heads.

"Even more petty intruders..." Madarame commented, anger slowly crept on his face.

"Madarame... I thought you were just an old man with too much greed..." Jester whispered darkly, standing up to face him. "How could've I guessed, you're even more disgusting than that."

"In some way, you're just as bad than Kamoshida." Swan glared at the shadow, pulling out her saber. "No... Even worse."

"In my entire life, I've never witnessed someone as rotten as you." Roi commented, unsheathing his longsword. "What a god damn surprise."

"You're going to pay for what you've done." Majesty clenched her Naginata, pointing straight at the shadow. "For sure!"

"That just escalated quickly." Joker sweatdropped. "But didn't expect you to just come out from the shadow, Jester."

"I'm just too mad at this A-class human trash." Jester replied, holding his scythe right at Madarame's face. "This trash let someone's mother die for money and fame, how could I hold myself together?"

However, the response only came as Fox's dark chuckling. "I thank you, Madarame...!" He glared at him, eyes burning in rage. "Every reason for me to forgive you has disappeared without a trace at this very moment! You aren't some rotten artist... You're a despicable fiend who wears the skin of an artist!"

"All you good-for-nothings...! Barging into my museum and doing whatever the hell you want..." Madarame sneered in response, black goos start to appear around his feet. "Those who have the connections make the rules; those who don't, follow them."

"Not to mention, the value of art is all subjective! I make the rules in the art scene!"

His face distorted into an ugly sneer, his red lipsticks spread thinly on his lips. "I am the supreme being! I am the god of the art world!"

"This isn't good." Mona warned. "Get back!"

The thieves stepped back, watching as the artist began to laugh maniacally. His mouth began to get wider and distorting his features. And he transformed into four portraits, with two eyes, a nose, and a giant mouth. "I'll paint all over you!"

"Now...let's begin, you vermin!"

Panther shifted his focus from the monster to Jester, taking a deep breath before shouting to him. "Let's finish it together! jester... no, Akira!"

Jester froze, pausing a moment before smiling to himself, turning back to her. "Yeah, let's finish this, Ann."

"So it's you all along..." Skull trailed off, widening his eyes in realization as he noticed Swan's worrying face. "Wait, Swan... You're Suzui?!"

"Huh?!" Panther yelped, eyes open wider as she also finally realized who they're looking at. "Shiho?!"

"Yeah, it's me." Swan sighed, gripping her saber with both hands. "But let kill this a-hole first, OK?"

"Of course." Joker nodded, swing his dagger in his hand.

And with that, the fight with Madarame began.

* * *

With that, chapter 19 had finished! Thank you for reading!

So we left this off with a cliffhanger... sorry 'bout that. Now both Swan and Jester's identity has been revealed, they are going to have a long talk with Ann after the battle... A really long one.

Also, a small (but not too small) Evangelion cameo! The cast of Evangelion is not going to be a much as a something like a crossover, most likely to be a side character with some interaction with Akira and others. And mostly only featured Shinji and Asuka. Since Persona 5 is most likely to set in 2016, that makes them 15 in this story and a first-year in high school... Maybe they'll transfer to some school we familiar with, or not.

And now here's a question from a review earlier!

Chance Green G King:** So uhh... About whether making someone's Persona unusual like Johanna(on design-wise), it's very possible since it'll be kinda boring if every member's Persona is human-like in Le Fool. But it'll be difficult to figure something to be a model of a Persona. (Johanna as a bike and Necronomicon as a UFO, what other cool things you can think of as a Persona?)**

**However, if what you mean is like something not based on humans, like using... The vampire as a Persona or like a werewolf (Or like Necronomicon which based on a book in Cthulhu myth.) It's more unlikely because there are many characters and historical figures to choose and fit the 'rebel' theme. Thus I'll more likely to choose a real person or a character to be the base of those personas. **

**Anyway, thank you for your question!**

And with all that said, hope you like the story so far, reviews are welcome!


	20. Chapter 20: End of plagiarizer (Part 2)

"Now...let's begin, you vermin!"

Panther shifted his focus from the monster to Jester, taking a deep breath before shouting to him. "Let's finish it together! jester... no, Akira!"

Jester froze, pausing a moment before smiling to himself, turning back to her. "Yeah, let's finish this, Ann."

"So it's you all along..." Skull trailed off, widening his eyes in realization as he noticed Swan's worrying face. "Wait, Swan... You're Suzui?!"

"Huh?!" Panther yelped, eyes open wider as she also finally realized who they're looking at. "Shiho?!"

"Yeah, it's me." Swan sighed, gripping her saber with both hands. "But let kill this a-hole first, OK?"

"Of course." Joker nodded, swing his dagger in his hand. "Arsene, dream needle!" He commanded, touching his mask.

The red gentlemen thief appeared behind him and snapped his finger, sending a wave of needles at the shadow's mouth. However, it only chuckled mockingly in response as his attack did no damage and only healed it.

Internally cursing, Joker turned his teammates. "No physical attack on the mouth!"

"Got it!" Jester nodded, cracking his knuckle. "I've been wanting to try this for a while now..." He summoned Moriarty, pointing his scythe toward the shadow's mouth. "Persona! Wind of Death!"

**(Wind of Death- Dealing medium WindCurse damage to 1 for, a unique skill for Moriarty.)**

**_"At your pleasure, Jester."_** Moriarty smirked to himself, sending a barrage of razor-sharp wind and shot a blast of curse energy to the wind, creating a black tornado. The tornado hit Madarame's mouth, severely damaged it.

High-fiving with Jester, Skull rushed forward and swang his bat to the eight eyes, jumping back and touched his mask. "Peeeersona! Headbutt!"

The pirate smashed into the left eye, readying for another lighting attack when Swan rushed to his side with Jeanne behind her. "Jeanne! Zio!" "Captain Kidd! Zio"

With the two Persona users shouted in unison, two bolts of lightning struck the mouth again, further damaging it.

"ARRRRGH!" The shadow groaned in pure rage, sending a wave of chilling ice toward Panther, knocking her down and back. Before everyone can snap out from shock, Madarame sent another wave of chilling wind to the thieves, Majesty to be exact.

Luckily, Roi was able to dash in front of her in time, bearing the damage for her. "Thank god that I'm resisting to Ice..." He murmured, sighing in faint exhaustion and turned back. "Majesty, snapped out of it."

"Y-Yeah." She hesitantly nodded, gripping her naginata and took a deep breath to calm herself. "Oichi! Queen's Dance!"

Mona rushed to Panther's side and helped her up, healing her prior injuries. "Panther, you're OK?" He asked worryingly.

"I think so..." Panther whispered, giving him a reassuring smile. "Now, let's back into the fight."

The Japanese queen came out behind her and flew forward, throwing her blade-hoops to the nose. Taking this as his opportunity, Fox summoned Goemon and shouted.

"I am thou! Giant Slice!"

The Japanese dancer smashed its opium pipe to its left eye and the eye flop onto the ground, lying motionlessly. Panther followed up with an Agilao on the nose, running to Swan's side.

"Swan, I got an idea." She said, moving her head to Swan's ear, whispering something to her.

"Oh! That's great!" Swan exclaimed in agreement, giving her a thumb up. "Let's try this out-"

However, her word was cut short when those five paintings all flopped to the ground and dissolved into black goo, and Madarame reappeared as his human form again. Taking this as their opportunity, the thieves surrounded him with their firearms.

"Dammit... I'm the great Madarame..." The shadow panted, sweating heavily from his forehead. "The Madarame who gathers a full crowd every time he opens an exhibit! I'm not someone that worthless brats like you are allowed to defy...!"

"You still have the nerve to say such things?!" Fox scoffed. "You will fully taste the wrath of those who were preyed upon by you!"

"Let's finish this! All-Out Attack!" Joker and Jester shouted in unison, and the thieves jumped back and rushed to the old plagiarist, attacking him with their weapons.

"Now's our chance!" Mona advised. "Attack the main body!"

"Panther! Let's do this!" Swan took the opportunity, raising her hand up.

"Yeah!" Panther nodded, high-fiving with her and announced together. "It's our **SHOWTIME**!"

Before anyone can even react to it, Panther dashed forward and whipped Madarame for a few times and tied him up, pulling it with all her might. Meanwhile, Swan was holding a volleyball, staring at the shadow while playing with it. Nodding to each other, the red latex-wearing thief swang it to the sky, letting the volleyball player have a clear shot. Without another word, Swan threw the volleyball to the air and spiked to Madarame's face.

The two watched as Madarame's body crashed to the ground and continue to slide toward the other side. Giving each other a giggle and high-five.

"Damn..." Jester sweatdropped, turning to Skull. "Note to self, never get to their bad side..."

"You're damn right." Skull nodded, gulping.

"Stop sidetracking." Roi deadpanned, firing his evoker to the shadow. "We're fighting a big shadow after all."

"Napoleon, Frei!"

The horse rider pointed his sword to the air, casting a burst of nuclear energy to him, knocking him back. Groaning in even more rage, Madarame raised his hand toward the thieves, sending a wave of purple energy to everyone.

"Brace yourself!" Exclaiming, Joker held up their hands and guard themselves, the others followed. The almighty attack struck them, knocking the thieves back for a bit.

"ARGGH! You damn thieves!" Madarame glared at the thieves, sinking into the black goo below him, the portraits replacing his original form. "It seems you need a good whipping to make you understand!"

"Great..." Joker trailed off, changing his Persona in his mind. "Shiki-Ouji! Psio!"

The white paper-like Persona appeared behind him, raising his hand and sent a blast of psychotic energy to the mouth, causing it to wince in pain.

"Requiem of Rebellion!" Swan announced, with white light and harmony singing, everyone was mostly healed from their injuries. "Mona, I'll handle the healing, focus on damaging it!"

"Got it!" Mona nodded, summoning the black swordmen. "Show your might! Lucky Punch!" A red punching glove with spring attached appeared in front of the nose of the portrait, striking it.

"You brat!" With a shout in rage, the artist's right eye used The Artist's Grace, covering Swan with black paint. She flinched and slumped, her entire body now shadowed in black.

"Swan! You're OK?" Mona rushed to her side. "It seems that the skill does something more than just painting you black."

"I just feel... vulnerable." Panther winced, touching her white swan-like mask. "Fly high, Jeanne! Kouga!"

The crystal woman raised her blade into the sky and sent a large blast of light, causing the painter's right eye to fell on the ground.

With a mocking laugh, the Painter's Mouth opened and bite on Swan, dealing large amounts of damage and knocking her down on the ground. "Swan!" Jester exclaimed in shock, firing his revolver to the nose while rushing to her side.

"I think I'm fine, Jester... just need a rest." The white thief breathed, giving him a weak smile. "But be careful of that black paint."

Nodding, Jester carried her to Mona, letting her rest for now. "Mona, take care of her for now, OK?"

"I know." The feline nodded, casting a Dia on her.

"Joker! Take care of that mouth!" Jester announced to the wildcard, summoning Moriarty and pointing at the mouth. "Wind of Death!"

"Got it!" Joker nodded, switching back to the red evil-looking thief. "Arsene! Eiha!"

Seeing that the mouth fell down on the ground, everyone rushed to surround the remaining eye and the nose, pointing their firearms to it.

"Fire!" The two leaders commanded in unison, and everyone quickly fired their guns to the shadow. Disloving back into a pool of black goo, Madarame reemerged, standing up on weak legs.

"Dammit... Dammit..." He cursed between pant, glaring at the thieves. "Stop it, you brats, or else...!"

Narrowing his eyes under the mask, Fox said darkly to his former mentor. "You think we'll be daunted by such threats...?!"

"Especially after those lives and dreams you've crushed!" Joker exclaimed, twirling his dagger in his hand before pointing at Madarmame. "Let's finish this! All-Out Attack!"

The thieves all jumped back again before attacking him at once, and he cried out in pain, clutching his chest in defeat. Fox took a few steps forward at the defeated shadow, gripping his katana tightly.

Seeing the approaching thief, Madarame hugged the 'Sayuri' to himself, using it as his shield between him and Fox. "No one cares for true art..." He tried to argue with them, drops of sweat trailing down on his face. "All they want are easily recognizable brands...! I'm a victim in this too...! Wouldn't you agree?!"

Skull scoffed, resting his shotgun on his shoulder. "Excuses now...?"

"The art world revolves around money after all... You can't rise up without any money..." The old painter trembled, looking up at Fox pleadingly. "Yusuke, you understand, don't you?! Being a poor artist is truly miserable...!"

"I just didn't want to return to that life!"

Tightening his grip on the katana, Fox reached down and gripped his collar with his free hand. "A fiend like you has no right to speak about the world of art!" He glared at him coldly, sending a chill down the shadow's spine. "You're done for, along with this abdominous world!"

"No, please! Just... don't kill me...!" Madarame shrieked, dropping the portrait onto the ground.

Narrowing his eyes, Fox flung him back down, pointing his katana to his face. "Return to yourself in reality and confess your crimes- all of them!"

The shadow looked up at him hesitantly. "Y-You're not going to kill me...?"

"You don't have the luxury to just die and run away from your sin." Jester coldly said, taking a step forward. "You have to face those young dreamers who were crushed by your greed!"

Fox glared harshly. "Swear it!"

"All right...All right!" Madarame shrieked at them, breathing shakily. "Wh-What about the other one though? The one with the black mask?"

"Hm...?" Fox blinked, taken back from the sudden change in topic.

"Black mask?" Joker questioned, narrowing his eyes under the mask.

"A black mask? Wait, who's he talking about...?" Panther tilted her head in confusion.

"I know Jester has a black mask..." Roi pondered. "But you didn't react as you recognized him when we drop down..."

"It can't be...There was another intruder besides us within this Palace..?!" Mona stilled, realizing what he's talking about.

"With our existence... It doesn't seem to be this far fetched." Majesty commended.

As he said that, the floor underneath their feet rumbled, and they stared up in shock at the Palace shook. "There's no time! Hurry!" Skull urged, gesturing toward the exit with his hand.

Nodding in hurry, the thieves quickly ran toward the exit. However, Fox just slowly cradled 'Sayuri', taking a deep look before following them.

"Hey, Yusuke..." Madarame gulped, reaching out to him. "What should I do?"

Fox stilled. "...Put an end to all this and use your own artwork for once." He gave a small glance back at his old mentor, sadness filled his eyes. "Goodbye... Madarame-Sensei."

With that said, he took another step toward his teammates, then another... and another...

"No, wait!" Madarame called out desperately, still on his knees. "Please! Yusuke! YUSUKE!"

* * *

Once the thieves were back in the real world, Ren took out his phone and checked the Meta-Nav. **"Destination deleted."** The Meta-Nav announced in its robotic voice, causing him to sigh in relief.

"Mission complete." He smirked, putting his phone back in his pocket.

"It would be bad if people started getting suspicious of us. We should leave at once." Morgana warned, jumping into his bag.

"Right..." Yusuke slowly nodded, gazing down at the portrait in his hand.

"Well, let's go back to our hideout." Ryuji said, crossing his arms and looking at the four Persona user of Le Fool. "Hey Akira... Comin' with us?"

"Yeah..." Akira trailed off as he noticed the dangerous look of Ann, gulping nervously.

"We'll talk later." Ann plainly said, still angry from the fact that she has been lied by her two best friends. "I need some time to gather my mind."

"Awkward~" Keigo jokingly said, trying to lighten up the mood between the two but quickly realized that it's no use. "Uh... sorry, just trying to lighten up the mood."

"You're just making it tenser than before..." Hifumi deadpanned, shaking her head in disappointment.

"Ann... sorry for lying for this long." Shiho quietly apologized, hesitantly taking a step closer to the model.

"People are watching us." Mona hissed, glaring at the four. "Let's go back to our hideout."

Nodding hesitantly, the two groups of Phantom Thieves walked back to Shibuya station, stopping at the hideout on the passageway. Akira and Shiho leaned on the handrail with Keigo and Hifumi standing close to them, giving nervous look between them and Ann.

Ryuji sat down on the ground with a sigh, eyes darting between the three. "So uhh... I know you need some time, but the silence is killin' us, Ann..."

"Lady Ann, I know that you need time..." Morgana trailed off, jumping out of Ren's bag to the railing.

"It's fine, I've gathered up my thought." Ann suddenly replied, facing her two old friends with a sigh. "Akira, Shiho... It'd be impossible that I'm not mad at you two not telling me the truth."

"We know..." The two said in unison, glancing at each other before bowing to her. "We're sorry!"

"..." Ann bit her lips, staying in silence for a long while before releasing a soft sigh. "Apology accepted."

Looking back up to her, Shiho turned at Akira for a moment before giving the model a big hug, burying her own face in Ann's chest. Meanwhile, Akira just smiled and watch, rubbing his neck and gave the others an awkward look.

"Um... Ann, if you need anything else to make up for that..." He said, still avoid his gaze to her. "I can make dinner for tonight."

"Hmm?" Poking her head next to Shiho's shoulder, Ann widened her eyes in surprise before glancing at everyone else, finally turning her gaze back on Akira. "Well, I'm OK with that, but there's one more requirement."

"One more requirement?"

"Yep." Smirking devilishly, Ann released herself from Shiho's hug, taking a few steps closer to the persudo-detective. "And that is you have to make the dinner for all everyone here."

"Oh, that's fine." Akira calm nodded, causing everyone to freeze in disbelief. "I think my remaining allowance is enough for everyone here."

"Dude!" Ryuji exclaimed, breaking the brief silence. "You serious?!"

"Yeah, I've done something like this in the past." He explained, stroking his chin while pondering. "Ann, don't tell me that you expected me to shout in disbelief or something like this?"

"...Fine." Ann sighed, shaking her head slowly. "So it's settled then..."

"If you say so..." Ren commented, shrugging.

"I can enjoy a nice free meal." Yusuke quietly agreed, a faint smile appeared on his face.

"It'll be interesting to see your cooking skill, Akira." Keigo commented, crossing his arms with a smile as well. "I think Kirijo-San would be interested as well."

"I think I did have some free time today too." Hifumi nodded, checking her phone for schedule. "Indeed."

"Don't worry," Akira reassured them. "I promise it'll be the best meal you've ever had!"

* * *

[A little while later, Akira's apartment.]

After a short train ride from Shibuya to Yongen-Jaya, the thieves walked past Leblanc and reached a medium-sized apartment building. Taking the elevator, they finally entered Akira's apartment.

"Woah..." Ryuji muttered, looking around in awe. "It's effin' huge!"

"I can't believe that you live alone in here." Ann remarked, resting her hand on Akira's shoulder. "You should call me for a sleepover!"

"You're a girl, Ann." Akira deadpanned, taking her hand off his shoulder. "It'll only be extremely awkward between us."

"The design is interesting..." Yusuke trailed off, still holding the portrait in his arms. "You did a fantastic job design and decorating this apartment, Ichijou-Kun."

"Just call me Akira, Yusuke. There's no need to be this formal" He said, walking off to the kitchen nearby. Leaving everyone else in the living room. And they decided to sit around the dining table and have a chat with the other members of Le Fool.

"Um... Kamisaki, right?" Ryuji asked, raising his eyebrow in curiosity. "How did you get involved with the Phantom Thief business? I'm kinda curious."

"'Keigo' is alright for me." The half-French replied. "But I joined Le Fool because... I was sent by someone to look after and assist Akira in his path."

"Sent by someone?" Morgana questioned, narrowing his eyes. "What do you mean by that?"

"Um... I can tell you who sent me here..." He trailed off, looked hesitated for a moment before continuing. "It's Kirijo-San."

"Kirijo?!" Ryuji exclaimed in disbelief, widening his eyes. "You mean Mitsuru Kirijo?! The president of Kieijo cooperation?!"

"Yes, it's her." Keigo nodded, sighing. "She was concerned for Akira's involvement with Persona and shadow incident, and sent me to look after him."

"That explains a lot." Ren nodded, stroking his chin thoughtfully. "But... did Kirijo also know about the Metaverse?"

"Not to our extent." He further explained, leaning back to his chair. "We had detected the existence of Memento two years ago... But our operation was handicapped by police's director."

"Wait, 'we'? Director?" Hifumi interrupted, completely confused at his explanation. "You mean that you're a part of an organization?"

"The Shadow Operative, right?" Shiho remarked. "You told me and Akira about that."

"Yes, I was a member of Shadow Operative, the newest member to be exact."

"Shadow Operative?" Ann asked, even more confused than before. "So there's more Persona user than us?"

"A lot more." He nodded again. "I can't tell you who they are, but they also had a year-long journey like what we're experiencing."

"OK..." the group nodded, decided to drop this topic and changed to something else.

"So..." Ryuji trailed off, finally recognizing the fourth member of Le Fool. "Wait, no way..."

"You're Hifumi Togo!" He exclaimed in surprise. "How did I not recognize you back in the hideout?!"

"How would I know?" Hifumi calmly commented, sighing softly.

"Togo-San." Yusuke said, leaning forward. "I'm curious... How did you get your Persona?"

"Yeah." Morgana nodded, sitting down on the table and facing her. "Also, that palace you're handling... it's for who?"

The shogi player visibly winced from their question, those memories in Mitsuyo's palace surfaced again. "...I awaken Oichi a few days before..."

"In her mother's palace." Shiho finished for her, giving her a reassuring pat on the shoulder. "I'll tell them for you, Hifumi-Chan."

Hifumi only nodded, letting Shiho told the event happened a few days before. The other's reaction was... shocked and feeling bad for her.

"A palace formed by hatred and grief... and she directed them toward you." Ren summarized, looking down at the table. "I'm sorry for what happened to you, Togo-San."

"Damn... That sucks." Ryuji sighed, not sure of what should he do in this place. "...I don't even know what to say."

"I'm sorry for what happened." Ann said. "You shouldn't experience that."

Keigo only patted her shoulder, giving her a look of sympathy.

"Maybe we can help you with the infiltration, Togo-San." Morgana suggested. "After all, with nine of us, we'll change your mother's heart in no time."

"Thank you..." Hifumi softly thanked them, smiling faintly. "However, let's change our topic to something else."

Ren nodded. "So, about that portrait..." He trailed off, glancing at the portrait on the sofa. "What are we going to do about it?"

"To think that this painting was the source of Madarame's distorted desires." Yusuke only chuckled, closing his eyes. "The only saving grace is that my mother won't know of what transpired..."

"The genuine painting at his atelier has been altered, after all..." Morgana remarked morosely. "Ironic as it may be, this one here is her true self-portrait now."

"At least it's on your hand now, Yusuke-Kun." Hifumi softly commented, giving the young artist a smile.

"It's a wonderful painting," Ann smiled as well, observing the portrait. "Took you some time to get it back."

"I'm sure your mother's happy to know you've finally seen the real portrait of her." Shiho said, smiling brightly at him.

Yusuke nodded. "...I'm thankful for it." He smiled softly before it fell. "However, it's impossible for this painting to be acknowledged by society anymore..."

Ren sighed in sympathy. "That's... unfortunate."

Yusuke wanted to say something to him, but the smell of omelets and the voice of Akira interrupted them. "Um... guys! I need some help with the dishes!"

"Coming!" Without hesitation, Shiho got up from her seat and entered the kitchen with Ann watched them with a small chuckle.

"Oh, Akira..." The model muttered to herself, not noticing that the others are able to listen to her mutter. "How can these two not notice the hint!"

"Hint?" Morgana took a few steps closer to her, glancing at the kitchen aswell. "Lady Ann, what do you mean by that?"

"Oh, I didn't tell all of you about that." Ann smirked, leaning forward and gestured the others to follow. "Akira and Shiho had a crush on each other for a while now." She whispered.

"Oh, that's why." Keigo nodded in realization, memories of those palace explorations started to surface. "He's always protective of Shiho."

"I thought they were a couple all along." Hifumi added.

"Aren't they a couple already?" Ryuji exclaimed in surprise, but not loud enough to be heard by Akira and Shiho. "I mean... Look at them!"

"They do look like a pair of lovers..." Yusuke trailed off, stroking his chin thoughtfully.

Before anyone else could say anything, Akira and Shiho came out with plates of rice omelets and placed them in front of everyone. stretching his arms in exhaustion and content, Akira took the seat next to Ren and opposite of Shiho, observing his own omelet with pride.

"I think I outdid myself this time." He muttered to himself, taking off his headphone and put it on the table.

"It looks delicious..." Ryuji murmured, mouth started to water.

"Look can be deceiving." Yusuke commented, causing others to give him a glare. "But this is not the case, or I hope so."

"Kitagawa-Kun, why are you always do things at the wrong time and wrong place." Hifumi deadpanned, narrowing her eyes at the young artist. "You even have 'Mood Killer' as your nickname in Kosei."

He tilted his head in confusion, obviously not aware of his nickname. "Really?"

"Yes." The shogi player sighed, facepalming at the fact that he's not aware of that. "It's a huge topic for gossip, especially for the girls."

"Oh." This is his only response.

"Yusuke... You're really on a different channel than others." Ren sweatdropped, turning back onto his teammates. "But anyway, let's eat, shall we?"

With a nod from everyone, they clapped their hands together and closed their eyes. "Itadakimasu!" They said in unison.

They all took a bite from the rice omelet, and widened their eyes in astonishment.

"W-Wow..." Ren murmured to himself, taking another bite before nodding to confirm himself. "It's delicious!"

"Yeah!" Ryuji agreed, voice muffled from the amount of food in his mouth. "This is the best rice omelet I've ever had!"

"Delicious." Yusuke smiled, turning to Akira with a bright smile. "I'm glad that I'm wrong."

"Even though it's not as good as sushi for me..." Morgana trailed off, giving him a nod of confidence. "But this is the same level as sushi! It's delicious!"

"Thanks..." Akira muttered, blushing uncontrollably from their praise. "I told you, I outdid myself this time."

"Kirijo-San would be happy at your cooking skill." Keigo commented, taking out his phone to dot a note. "I'll report this to her at this week's report to her."

"With this food like this, you can just open a restaurant," Hifumi said, turning to the persudo-detective. "Like, right now."

"Thanks..." Akira managed to speak those words out between heavily blushing, gulping nervously as he turned to Shiho. "Um... Shiho, what do you think about it?"

Shiho took a few more bite of the omelet, before nodding to herself. "Akira..." She trailed off, turning toward him with a bright smile. "I'm sure that you'll be a great husband!"

Akira was... dumbfounded to say at least. "..." He froze, his brain was still trying to process and understand the meaning behind her word. And it fails.

_**"Akira!"**_ To everyone's surprise, Moriarty suddenly appeared behind him and gripped his shoulder and shook him roughly, trying to get him back to the real world.

"Um..." Shiho awkwardly laughed. "Moriarty, he's OK... right?"

_**"To be honest, I think you just broke him."**_ Moriarty deadpanned, taking his hands off his owner's shoulder. _**"He was trying to process the meaning of your comment... and his brain failed."**_

_**"I think we'll just leave him be for now."**_

With that said, Moriarty came back into his owner's heart, and Akira snapped out from his 'broken' state a few seconds afterward.

"Akira..." The volleyball player awkwardly smiled, waving her hand in front of his face. "You're OK? I'm sorry that I broke you..."

"Huh?" It took him a few seconds to register his crush's words, and he quickly nodded to reassure her. "Yeah, I'm fine. Shiho, you don't need to apologize."

Sighing in relief, Shiho instantly grasped his hand with both of hers and squeezed tightly. "Thank god... I think I lost you for a moment."

Giving her a reassuring smile, Akira held her hand with his other's to reassure her. Not noticing the teasing look from everyone else. "It's fine... I should be the one sorry for letting you worry about me."

Nodding, they stayed in this position for a while before finally noting the look from the others. "..." His eyes darting between his hands and their look for a few times, finally realizing the reason and blushed heavily. "Uh... S-Shiho, t-there's people watching."

Perking up to face him, Shiho quickly shrugged her hand away from his, her cheeks were covered with a shade of dark red. "O-oh, I let my emotion get ahead of myself..."

Yusuke framed the two with his fingers. "Fascinating... so this is what love looks like..." He muttered to himself, but loud enough for everyone else to hear.

"Y-Yusuke!" Akira shuttered, blushing hard at his word.

Without giving each other a look, the two shouted in unison.

"WE'RE JUST FRIENDS! OLD FRIENDS!"

* * *

With that, chapter 20 of P5: Another Thief ended! Tank you for reading!

So I've watched the P5S PV... HOLY HELL IT'S A SEQUAL! Now I'm excited about both P5R and P5S! And from seeing that trailer, I've already come up with adding P5S story to this fanfic. Maybe an epilogue or a sequel fic to this fic.

**Akira: So my existence won't end after this year ended... good.**

Akira? Why you here again?

**Morgana: So this is the 'door to the fourth wall'... That lock isn't that hard to pick!**

Wait what?!

**Akira: So about that P5S thingy... Nameless, can you tell me about that?**

Huh? Ugh... It's basically a new Persona game, but with Musho style combat. I haven't played a Musho game before so... don't ask me about that.

**Morgana: Hey, will I be with Lady Ann in that game?**

How would I know?

**Morgana: (Sigh) Maybe I should change my question... Hey! Will I be with Lady Ann in this year?**

This year... Oh, you mean this fic.

(Pull Akira closer)

(Whisper) Ugh... Akira, I was planning for Ann to be with Ryuji... What should I do?

**Akira: Huh? Um... I don't really know either. Maybe we should let him have his fantasy for a bit longer. **

OK... Um... Morgana, I haven't planned anyone for Ann, so you still have a chance to capture her heart!

**Morgana: Really?!**

Y-yeah!

(Pushing the two toward the door)

Now as our little chat is over, please leave this place!

Especially you, Morgana! You are not going to force me to sleep!

(Finally pushing the two back to the fic's world)

This is going to be the norm for me...

Fine, I hope you guys like the story so far, reviews are welcome!


	21. Chapter 21: transition

[24th May, Shujin's 2-D classroom]

"Even more transfer?" Akira furrowed his brow, leaning back to his chair at Mishima's news. "There are even more surprises than I thought."

"I know, right!" Mishima nodded eagerly, turning to Ren next to him. "Don't you curious about the new transfers too?"

"Actually, no." Ren plainly stated, shrugging and pushing up his glasses. "I have something else to focus on."

"Phantom Thief business?" The other two jokingly said in unison, smirking faintly.

Ren deadpanned. "No, it's... something else else."

Narrowing his eyes, Akira leaned closer to him, his smirk still on his face. "Let me guess... that 'something else else' is about a girl."

The fuzzy-haired boy nodded unintentionally, taking a few seconds before realizing what he has done. "H-Huh?! No!" He exclaimed, a faint blush appeared in his face.

"Judging from the small blush on your face, it's definitely about a girl." Mishima commented, giving Akira a small wink. "Tell us, who stole your heart?"

"I'm curious too." Akira added, his smirk widened. "After all, stealing heart is your specialty."

"I-It's..." Ren stammered, internally thanked for Ann to not be here. "I don't really remember the name of her... But I think it's... Makoto?"

And the air froze, colder than absolute zero.

"No effin' way." Akira murmured to shock, taking a few steps away from him. "This is not real..."

"From every single girl close to you, you choose the hardest one..." Mishima trailed off, sighing and giving him a pat of sympathy. "But as a friend, I'll wholeheartedly support you."

In response, Ren only sweatdropped from their reaction. "Uh... She's not that bad."

"Maybe, but super hard to get." Taking a few moments to recollect himself, Akira walked back next to him, crossing his arms. "Do you know who is her sister? A public prosecutor."

"Yeah!" The admin of Phan-Site nodded in agreement. "And I heard that her sister is extremely serious and professional, and have a high standard for boyfriends, especially Nijima-Senpai's."

"So in all and all, you just pick merciless difficulty." Akira sighed, facepalming to his friend's poor decision. "Good luck, my friend."

* * *

On the other hand, Ann and Shiho were walking down the hallway to the courtyard, chatting about what happened Le Fool over these times. However, their topic quickly changed to something more... girly.

"So Shiho," Ann suddenly stopped in tracks, turning around to face her long-time friend. "When are you going to confess your feelings to Akira?"

Shiho instantly blushed in response, coughing for multiple times before answering her. "W-what?! What do you mean by that?"

"Don't play stupid to me." The model pushed further, leaning closer in the process. "Your crush is very obvious to everyone."

"R-really?" The volleyball player stammered, her blushes deepened. "U-um... I don't know, he's too dense."

"Yes, Akira can be a little dense on the relationship side." Ann agreed, pondering while looking elsewhere. "But if he's this dense, be more obvious about it! Just show him that you care about him!"

"I tried." Shiho deadpanned. "Remember that husband comment I made last night? I was intentional about that."

"And you broke his brain." Ann smirked in response, trying her best to hold her laughter. "Sometimes, talking to his Persona is a better choice."

Shiho sweatdropped in response. "Talking to Moriarty?" She said uncertainly.

"Yeah, why not?"

"That'll be suspicious!"

"Then let your Persona talks to him." Ann suggested, crossing her arms. "He won't suspect a thing."

**_"I'm skeptical."_** Jeanne suddenly said, appearing behind her. **_"How can I call him without getting attention from Akira?"_**

**_"I can come with you."_** Carmen suggested, crossing her arms. **_"We can just say that 'we have a Persona-only meeting' or something like that."_**

Taking a few moments to consider that option, Jeanne nodded in agreement. **_"Yeah, let's go."_**

With that said, the two Persona flew to 2-D classroom, leaving the two friends alone. "Let's see what Jeanne can get from Moriarty." Ann shrugged.

Shiho only nodded silently, her heart pounding lightly.

But then, the voice of a young girl caught their attention. "Um... Excuse me, senpai?"

"Hmm?" Turning around, Ann saw a certain redhead who had a crimson hairclip- Asuka in front of her, looking embarrassed for asking her. "Oh, how can I help you?"

The redhead coughed for a few times, glancing back to Shinji not far from them. "Um... That baka and I just transferred to Shujin and... do you know is there a music club in here?"

"Music club?" Ann repeated, exchanging a confused look with Shiho before turning back to the younger redhead, giving her an apologetic smile. "Um... Sorry, but I don't think there's one in Shujin."

Asuka looked down in disappointment for a moment. "Oh..." She murmured to herself, before bowing politely to Ann and Shiho. "Thank you, Senpai."

"It's no problem." The two older Shujin students waved with a faint smile, and Asuka nodded and quickly walked back to Shinji's side.

"So... Asuka." Shinji hesitantly said. "Is there one?"

"Nah, no luck." Asuka sighed, giving the young boy an unimpressive look. "But... Baka-Shinji, I think we really need to have more friends outside of just... us."

"Hmm?" The young boy raised an eyebrow in surprise, taking a few moments to recollect his composure. "That... was unexpected."

"Unexpected?" Asuka deadpanned, nudging his shoulder. "Come on, it's me you're talking about."

"But... It's just that..." Shinji pondered for a short while, trying to find the right word to reply. "You've changed a lot."

"Yeah, we've changed a lot." She nodded.

"Unironically, I kind of miss the old you, Asuka."

The redhead widened her eyes in surprise. "Oh, so you want me to be my old self?" She smirked.

"N-No!" Shinji exclaimed, holding up his hand in defense. "I just..."

"Just what?"

"I just..." He looked down with a faint blush, avoiding her gaze. "I just miss you. That mean, but sometimes nice and cute Asuka..."

Asuka only blushed hard in response, widening her eyes in awe.

"I-I don't mean that you should be like back then, I also like what you like now." Shinji quickly added, internally praying for her to not get the wrong idea. "Now that you're more open with your feeling, and a lot nicer and cute-"

"O-ok, that's enough!" The redhead stammered, interrupting him. "I-I... I need to go to the restroom! D-don't follow me baka!"

With that said, Asuka bolted away from her old roommate, leaving Shinji standing in the middle of the hallway.

Shinji sighed. "It's going to be awkward... What have you done, Shinji Ikari?"

Ann sweatdropped. "Um... so she and the boy are the new transfers." She commented, giving Shiho a small glance. "The girl looks like a mixed-blood too."

"Yeah. And they kinda remind me of you and Ryuji-" The volleyball player agreed with a nod, but jumped in shock as she suddenly felt someone touched her shoulder. "AH!"

**_"Oh! I'm sorry!"_** It was Jeanne, giving her an awkwardly laugh. **_"I just don't know when to tell you that I'm here..."_**

Shiho glared at her Persona. "You can just tell me."

**_"Sorry..."_** Jeanne looked down for a moment, remembering what is her purpose for talking to Moriarty. **_"Oh! I got something interesting from Moriarty!"_**

"Something interesting?" Ann raised an eyebrow, smirking devilishly toward Shiho.

**_"He was advising Akira to have a dat-"_** The crystal woman was interrupted as Carmen suddenly rushed to her, covering her mouth before she can finish.

**_"Jeanne! Moriarty told us to not tell Shiho about that!"_**

Jeanne blinked, awkwardly laughed again as she remembered. **_"...Oh, I forgot about that."_**

"Moriarty told you to not tell me?" Shiho sweatdropped, feeling curious and a bit nervous of what Akira was planning to her. "W-well, that's fine."

"Come on, have a bit more faith in him." Ann nudged her on the shoulder, furrowing her brow. "Did he ever disappointed you in any way?"

"Kind of." She plainly nodded, tapping her chin as she recalled the past. "Remember our picnic day back in middle school?"

"Oh, that one." The model winced at those memories. "He tried to be a hero to get some coal for us... but got stumbled by a stone and fell down with face-first..."

Shiho cleared her throat, pulling Ann's ear closer. "Actually, he was trying to impress me back then..." She whispered.

"Oh, that's why." Ann's nodded, gazing toward somewhere else and narrowed her eyes. "Wait... is that..."

"Hmm?" Tilting her head in confusion, Shiho turned around and followed her gaze to the stairs. "Wait, Keigo, Okumura-Senpai?"

It was Keigo, holding a bag of fertilizer and walking down with Haru.

"Um... Keigo-Kun." Haru suddenly said, causing the Half-French to raise an eyebrow in confusion. "I think I'm free this Sunday..."

"This Sunday?" Keigo pondered, tapping his chin thoughtfully. "Well, I got no plan for this Sunday too."

"Really?" She beamed at his answer. "That's splendid! Maybe you can take me to more fun places!"

"To be honest, I was considering that option too." The half-French smiled. "Maybe Kichijoji? I want to visit there for a while now."

"Kichijoji?" Haru pondered, tapping her chin thoughtfully. "I've never been there too!"

Keigo widened his smile. "Well, it's settled then."

"Yep." She beamed, giving him the biggest smile she has ever had.

"Now that's out of the way..." The half-French trailed off, shifting the bag of fertilizer on his shoulder. "I think we've been standing in the hallway for far too long."

Haru blinked. "Oh!" She gasped, clinging to Keigo's arms and dragged him to the front yard.

* * *

[Afterschool.]

Once the bell rang, signaling the end of school. Akira's phone buzzed at the same time. Pulling the phone out from his pocket, he noticed that it's from the Le Fool group chat.

**Hifumi: Um... Everyone, are we going to meet up today?**

**Hifumi: I know it is a bit too rushed and too much for all of you, but I am too concern about mother...**

**Akira: It's OK Hifumi, but are we going to call Ren 'bout that?**

**Shiho: Maybe.**

**Shiho: We really need to make a big group chat with everyone involved.**

**Keigo: Shiho, you can just give our number to Ann and let her added us into that group chat.**

**Akira: More specifically, only yours and Hifumi's.**

**Keigo: I know.**

**Keigo: You don't need to step out and comment on that.**

**Akira: Oh come on, I am the leader after all.**

**Keigo: That doesn't give you any special treatment.**

**Akira: Fine... Anyway,**

**Akira: Hifumi, we're going today.**

**Shiho: Aren't we going to tell Ren about that?**

**Akira: Oh. I'll tell them.**

**Akira: Let's meet up at the hideout, they lend it to us after all.**

**Hifumi: OK.**

**Keigo: Got 'cha.**

**Shiho: I'll walk with you over there.**

**Akira: Huh? Why?**

**Shiho: I just want to.**

With that said, Akira pocketed the phone and turned to Ren, who was also packing their stuff. "Hey Ren, we're going to the palace." He said.

"Hmm?" The wildcard perked up at his words, tilting his head in confusion. "Ain't that we just finished Madarame's palace yesterday?"

"I know, but Hifumi wants to finish this one ASAP." The persudo-detective explained. "After all, it's her mother we're talking about."

"I can understand that." Ren nodded, pulling out his phone and sent a message to the group chat. Informing them about the meet up.

"There's one more thing." Akira said, causing the fuzzy-haired boy to stop in mid-texting. "Can you add us to the group chat as well?"

"Of course." He nodded.

"Thanks man." The persudo-detective thanked, taking a few steps toward the door. "Shiho said she wants to walk with me... So see you at the hideout."

* * *

[A little while later, the Phantom Thieves' hideout]

"I didn't expect us to be the first to be here." Hifumi sighed, leaning to the railing and turned to Yusuke next to her. "Yusuke-Kun, what are you going to do after Madarame?"

"To be honest, I don't know." Yusuke sighed. "But your mother's situation is more important now, I'll think about that later."

Giggling, Hifumi gave him a soft smile. "Thank you, Yusuke-Kun."

"After all, you are the only Phantom Thief other than me in Kosei, Hifumi-san." The young artist smiled as well, looking out to the street of Shibuya.

After a while, Ryuji approached them with a huge grin. "Yo, Yusuke, Hifumi!"

"Ryuji, why are you all along to here?" Hifumi questioned, noticing the lack of the others beside him.

"Ann was comin' with Renren." The ex-runner explained. "As for Shiho and Akira, I don't really know what's up with them."

Yusuke narrowed his eyes. "You're fine with Ren coming with Ann?"

"Of course, why would I be bothered with them?"

"Um... nothing." He casually dismissed, spotting Ann, Ren, and Keigo not far away.

"Hey guys." Keigo greeted them, taking a sip from the coffee he just bought. "Kept you waiting?"

"Not for that long." Ryuji shrugged, noting the absence of Akira and Shiho. "Wait, where's Akira and Shiho? I thought that they're with you."

"Nah, Shiho wants to come with Akira." The half-French answered. "She explicitly said that on the group chat."

"I think she just took my advice, and a bit too literally." Ann sighed. "Let's hope that they won't take too long to come over here."

"Yeah... Unlikely." Ren plainly commented, shrugging his bag to wake Morgana up.

"Ugh... We're here?" Morgana groaned in a muffled voice from the bag. "I'm tired..."

"But we have a palace to handle today."

"Huh? Ain't that we already finished Madarame-" The feline interrupted himself mid-sentence, realizing what he's talking about. "Oh, Mitsuyo's palace." With that said, he quickly came out from the bag, standing on the railing and yawned.

"You looked tired Mona." Hifumi remarked, patting its head.

"Nothing, Hifumi." Morgana shrugged. "I just let Ren stayed up for too long last night."

The shogi player glanced at Ren with a confused look, but Ren just shrugged in response. "Anyway, can someone call Akira or Shiho?"

* * *

[In the meanwhile, on the train to Shibuya station]

The evening train of Tokyo was no joke, especially at the rush hour. Akira and Shiho were forced to cuddle together in the middle of the coach, avoid each other's glance with a huge blush on their face.

'This is awkward...' Akira thought to himself, mentally sighed. "Come on train... everyone is waiting for us..."

"What can we do now?" Shiho whispered, burying her face to his chest. "At least I don't need to worry for perv here... especially with you."

"E-especially with me?" The persudo-detective repeated, gulping as his blush worsen. "T-thanks... I guess."

"What kind of response is 'thanks'?" The volleyball player giggled, wrapping her arms around him. "But actually... I kinda want to stay like this... even for a little longer."

"H-huh?" Akira stammered. "I-I... You're serious about that? You're not just playing with me, right?"

"Why would I play something like this with you?" Shiho deadpanned, looking up to him.

"N-nothing... just..." He trailed off, sighing as he remembered something. "Remember Kimiko?"

"Kimiko?" It took basically no time for her to figure out who's Akira talking about. "Oh, her..."

"Um... Remember back like one or two years ago when we were like... very close?"

"Yeah, Ann even teased you for having a crush on her..."

"Well... I thought she has a crush on me." Seeing her eyes widened in surprise, Akira mentally cursed himself as he started to remember more detail. "And I decided to ask her about that... You can guess where it has gone to."

"So you're scared to the fact that I may just be playing with you..." Shiho trailed off, deciding whether to tell him the truth or not. In the end, she decided to tell him.

"Akira, I never played your feeling." She whispered, loud enough for Akira to hear. "I... I did those things because I'm-"

Before she can finish her word, the train suddenly halted, and the train's announcement snapped them from each other.

_"This is Shibuya... This is Shibuya..."_

The two nodded to each other, walking to the hideout in silence, hands involuntarily intertwined.

Once they had come near the hideout, Ryuji noticed them coming and waved. "Yo! Akira, Shiho!" He called out.

"Hey, Ryuji-" Akira greeted back but paused as he noted the weird glances from others. "Uh... What happened?"

"Um... Guys?" Shiho asked, tilting her head in confusion. "What's with that look?"

"Ugh... Shiho..." Ann trailed off, glancing at their intertwined hands. "You really did listen to my advice..."

"Huh?"

"You two didn't notice that?" Ren suddenly joined, pointing at their hands.

"What-" The two paused in mid-sentence, noting their hands. With a huge blush on their faces, they quickly shrugged off their hands.

"Uh... We just unintentionally held our hands..." Akira trailed off, frantically waving his hands in front. "Ne-nevermind! Let's go to the palace!"

The group awkwardly laughed and Ren tapped his phone, sending everyone to Mitsuyo's palace.

* * *

[Mitsuyo's palace, entrance.]

Once the sick feeling of entering the Metaverse, the five members of The Phantom looked at the massive palace with awe. "That's huge!" Skull exclaimed.

Fox framed the palace with his hands. "From an architect standpoint, it is an absolute beauty..." He trailed off, resting his hands down with a sigh. "But it looks too luxurious, this is just a mask for something else..."

"A mask for grief and hatred, right?" Joker remarked.

"Yeah." Majesty nodded, nudging Jester with her elbow. "Jester, can you send us to that saferoom?"

"Of course." Jester, now recovered to his usual composure, quickly tapped his phone and teleport everyone to the saferoom.

[7th floor]

Hopping from cover to cover, the thieves were making processes at a quicker pace. However, they noticed the lack of shadow in their way.

"Oichi! Agilao!" Finishing the last shadow they saw on the whole floor, Majesty sighed in faint exhaustion and holding on her knees as support. "I think it is all of them..."

"Majesty, you don't need to stretch yourself like this..." Roi furrowed his brow, supporting her to stand up straight.

"I know how it feels..." Skull murmured, shivering at the thought of having to change his mother's heart. "But we're a team, you can't just goin' out like this..."

"For once in my life, I agree with Skull." Mona deadpanned, crossing his arms. "And that's a rare thing."

"You don't need to carry all the burden on yourself. We're on your side..." Jester said with a faint frown, taking a few steps ahead of everyone. "From that map, there are only two more floors before reaching the treasure."

"Yeah, and we got the key from the captain we killed earlier." Swan took out a key with a Shogi as the top part, tossing it to him. "Let's not wait any further."

With a nod from everyone, they jogged to the door leading to the stairs. Inserting the key into the keyhole and pushing it in, opening the door. With a quickly to each other, the thieves dashed through the stairs, entering the 8th floor.

* * *

[8th floor]

Once the thieves entered the next floor, they were greeted by a hall similar to a museum, with multiple Shogi chessboards that had different arrangements of chess on them contained in glasses.

They split up and examined the chessboards. "What do those arrangements mean..." Joker muttered to himself, stroking his chin thoughtfully.

"Anyone know what it means?" Jester asked out loud, noting that Majesty stared at a particular chessboard silently. "Majesty? You OK?"

"I'm fine... But they looked familiar..." She whispered, eyes widening as she remembered those patterns. "Wait, I remember them!"

"You got any clue?" Fox asked, walking to her side to observe that one chessboard. "But it just looked like those other chessboards..."

"No, those patterns..." She trailed off, leaning closer to the glass container. "Those are endgames situation created by father!"

"Endgame situation?" Panther tilted her head in confusion, glancing at Skull for an answer.

Skull just shrugged in response.

"Back when father was alive... He always play Shogi with mother and me, and noted down the endgames we made in his notebook." Majesty explained, still keeping her gaze at the chess. "He used them to document out process..."

"That notebook must mean a lot for both of you..." Fox muttered, glancing at her somber face. "Just like how 'Sayuri' means to me..."

"But mother burnt it after father's funeral." Majesty sudden;y added, causing the others to widen their eyes in shock. "She said she wants to forget the past..."

Roi looked around to the other chessboards. "From the looks of it, it seems she's lying about forgetting the past."

"It must be hard for both of you to live through it." Joker said.

"It is, and that's why we need to save her as soon as possible."

The other thieves opened their mouth to respond, but a slightly distorted voice suddenly rang out from not far away, interrupting them and captured their attention.

**"Saving me? Stop kidding."** Mitsuyo's shadow appeared near the stairs, slowly walking to the other side of the floor. **"There's nothing that can 'save' me, especially YOU, princess."**

"Jester, are we going to face any shadow?" Joker whispered to the other leader, gripping his knife in his tailcoat.

"I think not." He replied, holding his revolver in his trench coat. "Last time we met with her, she let us out for some reason."

"M-mother, Please don't say anything like this..." Majesty trailed off, avoiding her mother's gaze. "You're not like that..."

**"I know what I'm like. And you don't any say in it."**

"But..."

**"There's no 'but'."** Mitsuyo grimly said, noting the other thieves around. **"Even with all of you, there's nothing you can do anymore."**

"With what we've seen, that's not the case." Fox commented, taking a step toward the shadow. "You still hold on to the past."

**"So?"** The shadow said irritatedly, shifting her focus from Majesty. **"So what? You can't do anything."**

"It is." He nodded, glancing back at his teammates before turning back at her. "But with all of us, it's not that impossible."

Mitsuyo only laughed in response. **"With all of you? Stop telling me jokes!"**

Seeing no response from them, she covered the lower half of her face with her fan, making sure that no one saw the portrait on the other side. **"Petty thieves****...**** If you**** want to 'save me' this bad, then do it. I'll be waiting for you at the top."**

With that said, the shadow disappeared in White light, leaving the thieves alone,

"O...K." Jester sweatdropped, giving everyone a hesitant gaze. "So what are we going to do now?"

"She is challenging us to change her heart," Joker said, sheathing his knife. "But we can't just abandon this palace, let's see what the ninth floor had installed for us."

With a nod from everyone, they dashed to the door toward the next floor, noting that the door was opened already. Even though they were suspicious about why the door was opened, the thieves decided to leave the question aside and continued their infiltration.

However, Mitsuyo's shadow was observing the thieves from somewhere else, fighting the urge to smile. **"Hifumi... now that you have real friends now..."** She whispered, closing her eyes to calm herself. **"The real me had suppressed her mother nature to you... because of the past..."**

**"But her grief was effecting me too..."** She trailed off, clutching her head as pain suddenly built up. **"Please..."**

**"Save me..."**

* * *

With that, chapter 21 of P5: Another Thief ended! Thank you for reading!

First, let me apologize for the late update of this chapter, I was stuck in a bit of writer's block while this chapter and did a few rewrites. But the next chapter will be posted on time :)

**Akira: Are you sure about that?**

Of course I am!

**Akira: Let's hope that you really did it on time...**

Um... Akira, why did you not bring anyone here this time?

**Akira: Umm? Oh, I just want to ask you about something.**

**Akira: About me and Shiho.**

Oh... _Oh~_

**Akira: Stop it, please.**

**(Cough)  
**

**Akira: A-anyway... What did you plan for us?**

What did I plan?

Umm... (Took out a notebook)

Let's see... a date, a dinner, a parent meeting, a sleepover-

**Akira: Wait, a sleepover?!**

A sleepover with everyone involved. I have some more idea but it's about lemon scene...

**Akira: (cough) It's not T rated, right?**

Yeah, this fic is M rated... But I never did a lemon scene before... And I think I'll be suck at it.

**Akira: Well... Um... Thanks. **

You don't sound like it.

**Akira: I need some time to think about it, OK?**

**(Walked back to the fic's world.)**

(Sweatdropped) Um... What should I do?

A-anyway, I hope you guys like the story so far, reviews are welcome!


	22. Chapter 22: Before another battle

After exploring the ninth floor, which was the same routine of jumping from cover to cover, killing shadows, and finding the key to the next floor. They quickly dashed through the last stair and reached the treasure room.

The room was empty with four plain grey walls, with a white blob of light floating in the middle of the room. Majesty took a few steps ahead of others, observing the blob. "...Is that..."

"Yep, that's the treasure." Mona nodded, walking to her side. "Now the infiltration route is settled, we just need to send the calling card and finish it."

Majesty nodded, clutching her fist in determination. "I... no, we'll change your heart, mother."

Fox gave her a sympathetic look. "I know how you're feeling, but let's go back for now."

"...Yeah." She nodded, turning around and exited with her teammates.

* * *

[24th May, afterschool, Phantom Thieves' hideout]

Once they were back in the real world, Ren decided to wait for one or two days before doing the heist to prepare. "I'll look for new weapons and some more medicine, we don't know what's installed for us."

"I'll make some slight customization for our guns." Akira volunteered, adjusting his headphones. "Iwai-San told me that his customization table is open for me."

"I think we should send the calling card on the 26th." The fuzzy-haired boy announced, glancing at the team before landing on Hifumi. "Hifumi, you're OK with this?"

"As much as I want to finish this palace as soon as possible, I understand the need for preparation." The shogi player nodded. "I'm OK with this."

"It's settled then." Ren nodded, stuffing his hand in his pocket. "Let's call it a day."

With a nod from everyone, the thieves all separated and went on their ways. However, noticing the gloomy look from Hifumi, Yusuke quickly rushed to her side. "Hifumi-San, you don't look fine."

"Yusuke-Kun..." She trailed off, avoiding his gaze. "Are you sure that mother will be good after we take the treasure?"

"to be honest, I'm not sure either." Yusuke sighed. "But we should stay optimistic, everything will be fine."

"Everything will be fine..." The shogi player trailed off, clutching the strap of her bag. "I... I hope so..."

Knowing that she needs anything but more reassuring words, Yusuke patted her shoulder, not knowing whether doing something more or not.

The two walked in silence, before Hifumi suddenly said, "...I don't what to say but... I feel a little better now, thank you..."

"Your welcome." He awkwardly nodded, seeing that they've reached the Shibuya station. "Um... I think this is it, you are taking the train to Kanda, right?"

"Y-yeah..." She nodded, turning back at him. "I'll be fine... I think."

"If you say so." Yusuke sighed, giving her a wave as a goodbye.

* * *

［25th May, afternoon, courtyard.］

Having a nice lunch with Akira and Keigo, Ren and Ryuji decided to talk about something other than their other-worldly business.

"Park cleaning?" Ren asked, tilting his head in confusion. "Is this... a tradition for Shujin?"

"Kind of, it's necessary, after all." Akira shrugged, taking another bite of his lunch. "And we get a field trip to a TV station after that... it's going to be a busy month."

"I wish we can just relax for a single effin' day." Ryuji sighed, leaning back to the bench he was sitting. "And I still don't have the gut to ask Ann out..."

"You're asking Ann out?" Keigo questioned, raising an eyebrow. "You are asking for a date... with her?"

"It's my suggestion." Ren held his hand up, internally wincing at his best friend's glare. "Ryuji, we're all boys here, it's OK to talk about our relationship."

"Ren, don't you remember that Morgana is having a stupid crush on her?" The half-French asked.

"He's not here today." The fuzzy-haired boy shrugged, opening his bag to show that there's no cat in there. "And I promise, I won't tell him about your feelings toward Ann."

"I know..." The ex-runner sighed again, leaning back to the bench and stared at the ceiling. "By the way, all of you are havin' a crush on someone else, right?"

"Ryuji, you don't need to ask us about it." Akira deadpanned. "We're not going to break the 'Bro Code', right?"

"'Bro Code'?" Keigo tilted his head in confusion, glancing at the others. "Have we ever made one before?"

"No, not on all of us." Ren replied, standing up from the bench. "But it's automatically applied to everyone."

"The first rule of the Bro Code, is to not talk about the Bro Code.." Akira declared, earning a deadpanned look from The half-French. "And the second rule of the Bro Code, is to never, ever steal or sabotage your bro's crush or date."

Ren sweatdropped at his words. "...I think he is referencing something even I don't know about."

"Are we going to fight underground while being half-naked?" Keigo commented, smirking as he saw the knowing nod from Akira.

"Anyway," Akira announced, turning back to the ex-runner. "Ryuji, just ask her out. I bet you that she's going to say 'yes'."

"And this is coming from a long-time friend of her."

After a while of pondering, Ryuji nodded. "...Maybe."

* * *

[Afterschool, Shibuya Main Street]

After the end of the school, Akira decided to call Keigo and hang out in Shibuya Main Street. They stopped outside of the bookstore nearby.

Akira picked a novel from the shelf. "Hey Keigo," He asked, looking up from the novel to him. "I had been wondering for a while now... How did they react to my involvement with the Phantom Thief?"

"They?" Keigo blinked, realizing what he's talking about after a brief moment. "Oh, you mean the old SEES group..."

"When Kirijo-Sama told them about you, they were..." He paused, sighing. "Everyone had a different reaction..."

Keigo trailed off, remembering the meeting before Mitsuru sending him to Tokyo.

[6th May, HQ of the Shadow Operative]

"I'm sorry to call everyone here this hastily," Mitsuru said, glancing at everyone in the meeting room. "It was breaking news for me as well."

The old SEES glanced at each other in confusion. "Breaking news?" Yukari asked, leaning toward the table. "Is that about the new shadow nest in Tokyo?"

"Is it about that scandal in Shujin?" Minako questioned, tilting her head in confusion. "I heard that the PE teacher over there confessed on abuse..."

"You're both half right, Takeba, Arisato." The leader of Shadow Operative sighed, pinching her nosebridge. "Actually... It's about Akira."

Akihiko and Junpei widened their eyes in surprise. "Akira?!" The capped man, exclaimed. "Did he got expelled from Shujin?"

"Did he blackmailed that teacher to confess?" Ken asked.

"No." Mitsuru shook her head, taking a breath before continuing. "I got this news from Narukami that... Akira is involved with the Phantom Thief."

"Phantom Thief?" Fuuka pondered for a moment, remembering the news she had read about the whole incident. "But how did they forced Kamoshida to confess his sin..."

"They entered another world to change someone's heart."

"Wait, another world?!" Minako exclaimed in surprise, standing up from her seat. "Don't tell me that it's about shadow and Persona..."

"Unfortunately, it is."

"God damn it Akira, why do you have to involved with this kind of shit..." Shinjiro muttered to himself, sighing and looked down at the table. "I thought the Dark Hour was bad enough..."

"So he got a Persona as well..." Ken trailed off, leaning back to his chair. "Minato-San must have an influence on him..."

Mitsuru just looked down with a somber look. "...Yeah."

Aigis, who was silent for the whole time suddenly spoke up. "I don't want this to happen too but... We all know how special Minato-San was, right?"

"Have a bond with Nyx..." Yukari trailed off, wincing at she remembered that one day.

_"Minato? Wake up!"_

_"Aigis, what happened to him!"_

_"He... I... I don't know..."_

_"Don't tell me that... He sacrificed himself for all of us..."_

_"I... I think so... S-sorry, Yukari-San..."_

"Not only that," Aigis continued. "from that day on, Akira-Kun also has a special bond with Minato-San... I'm afraid that if he involves with Persona and shadow business..."

"'It' maybe come out and cause another world-ending crisis." Mitsuru finished, gritting her teeth in frustration. "I sent him to Tokyo to stay away from us... from shadow and Persona..."

"But now he threw himself to those things... Mitsuru," Akihiko said, keeping his gaze on the crimson-haired woman. "We need someone to look after him."

"But the Tokyo department was disbanded... Who can we call?" Fuuka said, twirling her hair. "Shido knows everyone here as a member of the Shadow Operative..."

"I can go." Minako suggested, raising her hand up with a determined look.

"No! You can't!" Junpei exclaimed. "Your wedding with Aragaki-Senpai is right around the corner-"

"We can delay the wedding, priority comes first."

"Shinji, say something." Akihiko said. "You don't want to delay the wedding too, right?"

"If Minako wants... needs to delay our wedding, I'm fine with it."

Ken widened his eyes in surprise. "Shinjiro-San..." He trailed off, eyes darting between him and Minako.

"We can call someone from the investigation team to look after him, right?" Aigis suggested.

"No, they are not able to look after him." Mitsuru refused.

"However, I have a trust-worthy person to look after him." The head of Kirijo Group turned around, facing the door of the conference room. "Kamisaki, you can come in."

The door opened, showing Keigo with Shadow Operative's uniform. He walked to Mitsuru's side, facing everyone in the conference room.

"He is Keigo Kamisaki, the new recruit from the Tatsumi port island department," Mitsuru explained. "He'll look after Akira for the time being."

"A newbie?" Junpei sweatdropped. "Kirijo-Senpai, did you know how dangerous Akira is-"

"I know, but he's the only person in the Shadow Operative who was still unknown by Shido." She sighed. "This is our only option..."

The group looked down in frustration, not sure whether to accept it or not.

"...Fine."

* * *

"Keigo? Are you here?"

Keigo snapped back to the reality from Akira's calling. "H-Huh?!" He shuttered, taking a few moments to recollect himself. "W-what happened?"

"You just spaced out for no reason." Akira deadpanned, crossing his arms. "And it's creepy, you know."

"I just remembered something, nothing too significant." The half-French waved casually, dismissing the worried look from him. "Anyway, I remembered something important."

"After Madarame's confession, what are we going to do about those paintings?"

"About those paintings..." Akira pondered for a moment. "I'll get a list of the old pupils and those paintings from Yusuke, and call Chidori-San to help us return those paintings."

"But who is going to return those paintings? I don't think Yoshino-San is enough to find someone to return those paintings for us."

"That's the question." The persudo-detective said, rubbing his chin thoughtfully. "But I think I'll do it personally."

"Personally?!" Keigo widened his eyes in surprise. "But you got many things other than Phantom Thief and school..."

"Then who'll do it?"

"I'll tell Kirijo-Sama about that, maybe she can use her men to deliver those paintings for us."

"...That's a great idea, but I'm skeptical whether she'll accept or not."

"I'll try."

"Yeah..."

* * *

[Kanda, In front of Togo Household.]

After a brief train ride, Hifumi and Yusuke arrived at the Togo Household. They stayed at the street opposite to the household, staring at the house in silence.

Yusuke looked down and took out a calling from his bag. "I think you should be the one to give it to her." He said, handing out the card to her.

Hifumi nodded, taking the calling card and examined it.

"_'Miss Mitsuyo Togo, the sinner of grief and hatred. You have clouded your true heart and blaming the cause toward your own daughter. We have decided to save you from yourself. We will take your distorted heart without fail. From, The Phantom Thieves of Heart- The Phantom/ Le Fool...'_" She repeated, pocketing the calling card.

"Just let her see it." The young artist reassured her. "It'll be OK."

"I... I hope so." The Shogi player whispered to herself, gripping the strips of her shoulder bag. "But..."

She paused for a moment before suddenly wrapped her arms around him, burying her face in his chest. "H-Hifumi-San?" Yusuke shuttered, a hint of a blush crept on his face.

"I just something to reassure myself..." She whispered with a muffled voice, still burying her face in his chest. "I... just let me stay like this for a while, will you?"

"Of course..." Yusuke awkwardly nodded, standing still in his position. "But please... Don't be too long, it is awkward..."

"Never heard a word like 'awkward' coming from you." Hifumi giggled, releasing her grip after a long moment. "But..." She trailed off, trying to find a good word to respond.

However, she couldn't find one. "Nothing." The shogi player muttered, turning around and walked back to her house, but not before turning around again and gave Yusuke a faint smile.

The two nodded to each other and she entered the household. Once the front door was closed, Yusuke took out his phone and text to everyone else in the newly formed "The Phantom/Le Fool" group chat.

**Yusuke: I gave the calling card to Hifumi, let's hope that she's able to give it to her mother.**

It only took a few moments before his phone buzzed, signaling a reply.

**Ren: Actually, I have some doubt in her.**

**Ann: Me too.**

**Shiho: It's her idea to call us to save Mitsuyo, after all. I just hope she's able to give it to her without Mitsuyo's noticing.**

**Ryuji: C'mon, don't be this doubtful to her.**

**Ann: Why are YOU out of everyone defending her?**

**Ryuji: She's our teammate, and our friend.**

**Ryuji: I know you're goin' to say that 'I have a crush on her'.**

**Ryuji: But she's not my type, so am I.**

**Ren: That's... actually a great argument.**

**Ren: Morgana just said that 'You finally grew a real brain' or something along those lines.**

**Akira: Stop sidetracking, please.**

**Ren: You're right. We have a palace to finish tomorrow.**

**Yusuke: And from the weird action from Mitsuyo's shadow, it's going to be more complicated than we thought.**

**Ann: Yeah, about the shadow's behavior...**

**Shiho: I remembered that she let us go back when Hifumi awakens Oichi. For some odd reason.**

**Akira: Ren, Mona told us that a shadow is someone's repressed side, a side they don't wanna see, right?**

**Ren: Just asked Morgana again about this. Yes, it is.**

**Akira: If that's so... Maybe the mother nature of Mitsuyo was also repressed?**

**Akira: Hifumi told us that her mother wasn't a corrupted person from the get-go.**

**Yusuke: That's possible.**

**Ryuji: So every time she does somethin' weird, it's because of her mother nature acting on her?**

**Akira: That's exactly what I'm thinking.**

**Akira: Rare coming from you, Ryuji.**

**Ryuji: C'mon, I'm not that stupid.**

**Ann: You've grown, Ryuji!**

**Akira: Uh... Are you serious about it?!**

**Ren: This chat is a comedy gold mine!**

**Shiho: Totally agree with you, Ren!**

**Yusuke: The sense of romantic tension is visible, even through text.**

**Akira: You're so weird, Yusuke.**

* * *

In the meantime, Hifumi snuck the calling card to her mother's table and quickly hid outside of her mother's bedroom, peeking through a gap. 'Please read it...' She thought.

Fortunately, after a few minutes, Mitsuyo walked up to the drawer, picking up the card and read it. "...We will take your distorted heart without fail. From, The Phantom Thieves of Heart- The Phantom/ Le Fool..." She trailed off, narrowing her eyes at the card.

"How did they know about those things..." The older woman paused, widening her eyes in realization. "Hifumi... She wants to save me and contacted with the Phantom Thief..."

"Whatever, it's just a prank, anyway." She finished, tossing the calling card to the drawer. Hifumi frowned at her unusual reaction to the calling card, afraid that she's not going to materialize the treasure.

But before she can turn around and leave, the air surrounding them suddenly buzzed, covering the entire space with darkness. Mitsuyo's shadow stood at where her real self was standing, eyes darting between the drawer and Hifumi.

_**"You're going to steal the treasure, right?"**_ The shadow asked, sighing as she only had a surprised look as a response. **_"I'll be waiting for you, all of you."_**

With that said, the air around buzzed again and returned to normal, catching the Shogi player by surprise. "Is that it...?" She questioned, quickly took out her phone and texted in the group chat, informing everyone.

**Hifumi: I think the calling card worked.**

**Ren: Fantastic, we'll be meeting at the hideout tomorrow afterschool.**

**Yusuke: We'll save her, Hifumi-San.**

**Hifumi: I know.**

**Akira: Just like the calling card said, '****We will take her distorted heart without fail.'**

**Shiho: We can do this, just like how we succeed with Kamoshida and Madarame.**

**Keigo: Just be careful and we'll finish this.**

**Ryuji: Don't doubt yourself!**

Hifumi smiled at her teammate's word of encouragement, leaning at the wall and holding the phone on her chest. "It's OK... We can do this." She whispered to herself.

"We will do this."

* * *

And with that, chapter 22 of P5: Another Thief concludes! thank you for reading!

First, sorry for the short chapter. It's basically a setup for the battle of Mitsuyo's shadow.

Also, some more question and mysteries of Akira's past was revealed!

What was the 'it' Mitsuru and the SEES member talking about?

Why did Akira have a special bond with Minato?

Why is he dangerous to involve with Persona and shadow?

Unfortunately, these questions are not going to be answered in the near future.

Anyway, I hope you would enjoy this story so far, reviews are welcome!


	23. Chapter 23: Mother, Future

[26th of May, the hideout.]

"Everyone's here?" Ren said, glancing at everyone and nodded to himself as he saw everyone's here.

He turned to Hifumi who was leaning against the railing. "Hifumi... I know it's hard for you-"

"You don't need to reassure me, Ren-Kun." The shogi player interrupted him, her somber look was replaced by a determined one. "I had made my resolve."

"How splendid..." Yusuke muttered to himself, instantly taking out his painting album to draft. "The look of determination! Now excuse me, I want to capture this moment."

"Uh... Yusuke, we're in the middle of a meeting..." Ren tried to snap him back to the real world. However, seeing that he was totally invested in his painting, he decided to leave him be.

Keigo sweatdropped. "She's scary..." He whispered to Akira, unintentionally taking a step away from her. "Why everyone girl we met is a freaking psycho..."

"How would I know?" Akira whispered back, shifting his collar to let some air in. "But that's the charm in them..."

Ryuji sweatdropped as he overheard them. "Dude, you're so weird..." He murmured.

"Coming from a guy who had a crush on a dominatrix." The persudo-detective said in retort, narrowing his eyes.

"Comin' from a guy who had a childish crush on a-"

Akira interrupted him with a tense glare. "Don't you even dare to finish that sentence."

Their stare contest was interrupted by both Shiho and Ann. "Uhh..." They started in unison, eyes darting between the two teens before turning back to each other. "You handle Akira/ You handle Ryuji."

The two nodded and forcefully took the two boys away from each other. After getting some distance, Shiho turned Akira around and narrowed her eyes at him, crossing her arms. "What are you doing?"

"Uh..." The persudo-detective froze, trying his best to find a word to respond. "Just had some disagreement with Ryuji, that's pretty much it."

"But you kinda overreacted..."

"Maybe..." Akira shrugged, shifting his focus to Ren. "Um... Ren, how long are we going to be stuck in here?"

"You don't need to worry about that anymore." Ren replied, taking out his phone and opened the Meta-Nav. "Let's do this."

He tapped the phone and the scene around them warped, purple and red surrounded them, sending them to the palace.

* * *

[Mitsuyo's palace, entrance]

Different than how Kamoshida and Madarame's palace, the air was significantly lighter, almost felt like what it used to be. However, the red aura surrounded the palace and the slight change said otherwise.

"It felt less intimating than Madarame..." Fox muttered. "Is it because Mitsuyo's shadow had been anticipating us?"

"It's a possibility." Jester agreed, giving Joker a glance before tapping his phone, teleporting everyone to the nearest saferoom.

[10th floor]

Once the thieves entered the final floor, they were greeted by Mitsuyo's shadow. Holding a paper fan over her face, she narrowed her eyes at the thieves, especially on Majesty.

**"I've been waiting for you."** The shadow said. **"All of you."**

Jester sweatdropped, holding his revolver under his trench coat ."Um... Joker." He whispered. "It felt weird here..."

"Yeah." Joker agreed.

Majesty took a few hesitant steps forward. "Mother, I don't want to fight you." She said. "Please, just give us the treasure to us..."

"Majesty, this won't work..." Swan muttered out loud.

"The shadow is too unpredictable!" Mona added, hesitating at whether rushed forward or not. "We don't know what she'll do to us!"

"And the treasure is nowhere to be seen." Fox said, looking around the room to find the treasure they were looking for.

**"The treasure is in my hand now."** Mitsuyo announced, holding a small notebook with her free hands to show it. **"If you thieves want to get them, I'm afraid that you need to fight me to get it."**

"What did you tell us about it?" Roi questioned, shifting his hats to get a better sight.

**"I don't know either."** The shadow answered, trying her best to hide the fact that she was holding off from killing them. Ever since the calling card, the grief, and anger toward Hifumi from her real self have been effecting her in a bad way. **"But I think... our fight is ****inevitable****..."**

Majesty took another step forward, glancing at her with worry. "Mother? Are you OK?"

**"My real self has been affecting me since the calling card..."** The shadow murmured, clenching her head in pain. **"P-stand back! I-I don't want to..."**

"She's going out of control!" Mona exclaimed, rushing forward to pull Majesty back. "I don't want to say this but... I think the only way is to defeat her."

"Everyone, ready for anything!" Joker commanded, readying his dagger and changed into a fighting stance. "This is going to be a tough fight!"

The shadow shook her head in pain. **"I don't want to... I... I'll kill all of you!"** She shouted in a distorted voice, her body started to be covered by black goos.

The shadow emerged from the black goos and float in the air, holding a katana in her hand. Her kimono was replaced by white samurai armor and her black hair floating behind her and spreading, strikingly similar to Oichi. **"Now, let finish this, once and for all!"**

With no hesitation, Joker touched his mask and summoned Matador. "Swift strike!" He commanded, and the bullfighter swung its saber, striking her for a few times.

Taking his chance, Roi touched his mask and summoned his Persona. "Napoleon, Frei!" The rider pointed his sword forward, sending a few orbs of nuclear energy and hit the shadow.

The shadow grunted in anger, swinging his katana sideway and sent a shockwave through the whole floor, knocking everyone back. Then a light orb appeared her left hand and she crushed it, a red aura covered her and boosted her attack.

"She just boosted her attack!" Mona exclaimed, eyes glancing at everyone. "We need to be more cautious!"

"You don't need to tell me 'bout it!" Skull shouted, crossing his arms at his face and summoned Captain Kidd. "Whip 'em, Persona!" The pirate pointed its hand cannon to the sky and fired, a barrage of lightning struck her.

Aiming his revolver at the shadow's head, Jester touched his mask and summoned Moriarty. "**Crimson Shot**, that'll be its name." He whispered, smirking as his revolver started to be infused with curse energy and glow in red. Once the revolver's glow was the brightest, he instantly pulled the trigger and fired all round to the shadow.

The bullets hit their target right in the torso and exploded, knocking the shadow back to the ground.

Dashing forward at full speed, Majesty touched her mask and Oichi materialized next to her. "Agilao!" The biker-like woman raised her hand, sending a large blast of fire to the shadow.

Following Majesty's attack, Swan aimed her sniper rifle at the shadow's head, finger on the trigger. However, she was interrupted as the shadow suddenly generated a purple orb in her hand and threw it into the air.

Noticing the orb split into multiple smaller ones and flying toward them, Joker quickly raised his hand in front of him. "Everyone! Guard!"

The others quickly raised their hands up to guard. The orbs hit the ground around them and exploded, knocking Panther and Fox down to the ground. Jester flew and hit the wall from the shockwave, coughing and grunting in pain. Joker was barely able to keep himself straight from the damage he took.

He turned to Mona, who was in a bit better shape than him. "Mona, we need healing." He breathed, panting hard as he talks.

"I know." The feline nodded, summoning Zorro. "Media." He commanded, and a white and green aura surrounded the thieves, and they felt the pain lessened.

"Jeanne, Requiem of Rebellion." Swan breathed and her Persona sung, sending another wave of white light to everyone, further healing everyone.

"One strike and we're like this..." Jester murmured himself, struggling to stand straight. "Guys! We need to finish this ASAP!"

"I know!" Panther and Swan exclaimed in unison, giving each other a glance before raising their firearms.

"Hey Panther, remember what Jester just did to his revolver?" Swan asked, touching her mask and summoning Jeanne. "I think it's kinda interesting."

"Maybe." Panther smiled, summoning the crimson dancer as well. "Infusing our elemental power to our guns? That's awesome!"

Both with a smirk on their faces, the two Persona cast Agi and Kouga to their guns. "**White Out**!" Swan announced, firing her light-infused sniper rifle to the shadow's head.

"**Scarlet Inferno**!" Panther pulled the trigger, spraying the burning bullet to the shadow as well.

Following their attack, Fox pulled out his katana and his masked disappeared with blue frame. "This is my other self!" Goemon held his opium pipe like a sword, swung it down and sent a shockwave to the shadow, destroying the wall behind her in the process. The distorted sky contrast with the bright lighting of the palace.

Noting that the shadow's buff just gone out, Panther instantly followed Fox. "Get ready!" She summoned Carmen, and an orb of red and purple surrounded the shadow, causing her attack to be weakened.

"Show your might, Zorro!" Mona exclaimed, sending a wave of wind toward the shadow.

"I'll show you my resolve!" Majesty rushed forward, slashing Mitsuyo for a few times with her naginata before summoning Oichi. "Queen's Dance!" Oichi threw her hoops at the shadow and jumped, sending another wave of hoops at the old one returned.

"Go forth!" Roi raised his hand forward, his mask disappeared and Napoleon appeared behind him. "**Sub Zero Blast**!" The rider pointed his sword high, sending a barrage of ice and froze the shadow. Pointing his evoker at the ice-covered shadow, waves of Nuclear energy infused with it and the silver pistol shined in light blue.

With a smirk on his face, he squeezed the trigger and fired. A large blast of nuclear ray traveled in light speed and struck Mitsuyo, breaking the ice and knocking the shadow down.

_Grunting in pure rage and pain, Mitsuyo struggled to stand up straight. **"I'll kill all of you, you disgusting thieves! DO YOU HEAR ME!"** Holding a red and black orb in her hand in front of her face, she crushed it in an instant._

_The orb burst and covered her, with a heartwrenching scream of pain, another shockwave struck everyone, knocking everyone back again. **"I've had enough! It's MY TURN NOW!"**_

_Before anyone can react to what just happened, the shadow dashed forward in unimaginable speed, impaling Swan's torso with her katana. Her white outfit started to be covered by blood-red._

_Widening his eyes in shock, Jester shouted._

_"SWAAAAN-"_

"**Sub Zero Blast**!"

"H-huh?!" Snapping back to reality from what just happened, Jester turned to the royal thief, remembering the scene that happened before him. "Wait, ain't Roi just used this a few seconds ago-"

**"I'll kill all of you, you disgusting thieves! DO YOU HEAR ME!"**

Widening his eyes again at the familiar lines, Jester realized what really just happened to him. "D-did I just see the future agai-"

Feeling the shockwave hit him again, the black thief dashed toward the white thief, knocking the shadow's katana away from her with his scythe. "Just in time..." He said between panting, tightening his grip on his weapon. "I'm not going to let you hurt Swan, no matter what!"

"Fox, I need more speed!"

"Got it!" Fox nodded, summoning the Japanese dancer and buffed his speed.

With no other word said, Jester swung his scythe with incredible speed, sparks flying everywhere from the katana and the scythe. The two continued their duel for a while longer before Jester got knocked down by her, crashing to the wall as he was thrown by the shadow. However, he quickly got up with serious difficulties and Mona quickly healed him.

Fortunately, the two's attack had almost costed every extra energy Mitsuyo got from her move. Panting in exhaustion, she kneeled down, using her katana to support herself.

Taking this as their opportunity, Joker commanded everyone to fired everything they got. "Now!"

"Aesene! Eiga!"

"Captain Kidd! Mazio!"

"Carmen! Maragi!"

"Zorro! Garu!"

"Goemon! Bufu!"

"Moriarty! Wind of Death!"

"Jeanne! White Out!"

"Napoleon! Frei!"

"Oichi! Psi!"

Barraged by everyone's attack, Mitsuyo finally got knocked down hard, signaling the thieve's victory.

"It's over... finally..." Skull breathed, using his knees to support himself. "She's hella strong..."

"Mother..." Majesty took a few steps forward, kneeling down at her mother's defeated shadow. "You're OK?"

Turning back to her earlier form, Mitsuyo gave her a hesitant look before nodding. **"I... I'm sorry, my real self's hatred and grief got the better of me..."**

"You gave us a hard fight, that's for sure." Roi commented, sitting down on the floor.

**"I planned to have a talk with you, princess."** The shadow explained, avoiding her gaze. **"To make up for those times..."**

"You don't need to be sorry for that, mother." Majesty reassured her, lifting up her mask and smiled somberly. "We'll make up for our lost times, we'll find a way."

**"Prines-"** Mitsuyo paused herself in mid-sentence, leaning closer and hugged her daughter. **"I'm sorry for everything... Hifumi."** She whispered, voice cracking as her tears started to overwhelm her.

**"I'm really sorry..."**

The other thieves watched them embracing each other in silence, smiling faintly at the sight.

However, Jester bit his lips and looked away, taking his mask off and wiped the tears building up in his eyes. Swan noted his unusual behavior and took his hands to calm him down.

"Thinking about your parents?" She whispered.

He just nodded in response.

Swan bit her lips as she remembered what happened to his parents. Knowing that words won't do anything now, she embraced him in a motherly way, going unnoticed by the other thieves.

After a few seconds, Jester pushed himself from the embrace, smiling faintly while the tears stop building in his eyes. "Thanks..."

Swan just nodded in response, and the two turned their attention back to Majesty and the shadow.

**"Even though I had been hesitant on whether giving you the treasure or not..."** The shadow released herself from the embrace, taking out the notebook and gave it to Majesty. **"But now... I think I should give it back to you."**

Majesty took the notebook and observed it, widening her eyes as she remembered what this notebook was. "I-it's father's notebook..."

**"I told you that I want to 'forget the past'... But I lied."** Mitsuyo said, giving her the paper fan in addition. **"Also... I don't want you to forget our past too."**

The thief opened the paper fan and saw the portrait of both of them with Mamoru around, wiping tears building up in her eyes. "I'll not forget about it, I promise."

The shadow nodded, struggling to stand up straight and turned to the other thieves. **"You're doing this for Hifumi, right?"**

Seeing the nod from everyone (Especially from Le Fool), she smiled. **"Thank you... for being her friends."**

**"But there's something else I want you to be careful for."** She said, her attitude suddenly changed from thankful to worried. **"I know you are doing this for justice.. but not everyone is like this."**

**"There's someone with power like yours, and he used it to cause havoc and killing."** The shadow continued, seeing the thieves tensed from her words. **"From your reaction, I think you already know about that person, right?"**

"Are you talking about the black mask?" Joker asked. "We heard about him from Madarame's shadow."

**"You're right."** She nodded, looking down for a moment before glancing at everyone again. **"Please, promise me that you'll protect Hifumi from any danger.****"**

Before anyone can say or do anything to respond to her, Fox stood up and nodded determinately. "We'll keep her safe, you don't need to worry about her ma'am."

Mitsuyo nodded with a small smile, gesturing them to the broken wall behind her. **"I think you should leave from there... The palace will crumble once I return to my real self, right?"**

"Yeah." Joker nodded.

he led everyone, including Majesty, toward the broken wall. Mona transformed into his bus form and everyone entered. Majesty took a glance back to her mother, they smiled at each other and Mitsuyo covered herself in white light, fading out to nothing.

Hearing the palace started to crumble, Majesty jumped into the bus and they drove at full speed, returning back to the real world.

* * *

[Real world, PT's hideout.]

Once everyone's back into the hideout, Hifumi reached her bag and took out the treasures they took. She opened the notebook and saw the notes of their endgames, the journals, and a portrait of them.

"Another mission accomplished." Ren sighed in content. "We do need a break after this one..."

"Yeah..." Shiho agreed, crouching down in exhaustion. "But what should we do to celebrate?"

"Last time we had a buffet in the Hilton..." Ann trailed off, furrowing her brow as she pondered for a new option. "Maybe we should go somewhere more expensive than Hilton!"

"No, never." Ryuji deadpanned. "We're not even enough to cover Hilton! Especially with how many we are now..."

"Akira's mouthy allowance is enough, right?" Ann smiled and turned to Akira, only to see that he was fully in deep thought about something. "Akira?"

Akira, on the other hand, was pondering what just happened with his vision about the future. 'I saw the future again... Just like back when Mishima was about to be hit by the volleyball, and when Shiho tried to... suicide...' he thought.

* * *

[13th April, a few minutes before Mishima got hit.]

Akira was sitting next to Ann, trying his best to ignore the whispers behind them. However, the screaming from the crowd startled him.

_Mishima just got hit from a spike of Kamoshida. His head snapped back and collapsed to the ground. Shivering uncontrollably. _

_Kamoshida stood there for a moment, staring down at the blue-haired student with a frown before crossing the court. "Hey! Are you all right?" He called out, kneeling next to the boy, pulling him up into a sitting position. He looked out towards the students._

_"Someone! Take him to the nurse's office-"_

"Yeah... I don't know why, but please don't leave her alone."

'H-huh?' Akira snapped back to reality, eyes darting around before calming himself. "I know... Kamoshida hit on you again?" He quickly responded, his eyes stuck onto Kamoshida, waiting for the moment to change the future.

"Always..."

"Not good... let's hope that he won't have your phone number at any moment." Akira sighed heavily, mumbled quietly to himself. "That bastard... Think that he is a king of the castle of some sort..."

Seeing that Ann didn't answer her, the persudo-detective kept silent and stared at Kamoshida. And then, the PE teacher jumped and ready to strike.

With no other word said, he instantly got up from his seat and dashed to the playground. Pushing Mishima away from the ball and taking the ball for himself. He quickly served the ball towards the net and jumped, even higher than Kamoshida and strike.

"J...Just in time."

* * *

[15th April, Morning]

After yesterday's event insist on Kamoshida and Shiho, Akira only felt tense about what might happen to Shiho. Seeing her walking in front of him, he jogged forward and tapped her shoulder.

"Shiho?"

The volleyball turned around and widened her eyes at the sight of her old friends. However, there's something more that concerned him.

Her eyes were empty, empty like a bottomless void.

"Oh, good morning Akira." She said in a monotonous voice. "I'm fine."

"B-but... you don't look like fine..."

"I'm fine, Akira." She smiled, only to make him even more concerned. "You don't need to worry about me, not anymore."

Before he can say anything, Shiho turned around and continued her walk.

Even though he's more worry about her than before, Akira sighed and continued his walk as well.

_He was in the middle of Ushimaru's class when someone suddenly called out. "Hey...What's that...?"_

_"Enough! This is a classroom!"_

_"Wait...She's going to jump...!"_

_Mishima stood up, getting a glimpse through the windows. "Suzui...?" He whispered, eyes wide._

_His head perked up in horror, exactly at the same time as Ann. "Shiho?!" The two exclaimed in horror, before running out of the classroom, pressing against the hallway windows._

_It was Shiho, standing at the edge of the rooftop, looking down to the ground underneath her. _

_Akira widened his eyes in fear. "No no no no no no!" He instantly dashed toward the stairs, but the screaming of the crowd startled him, especially the one from Ann._

_"don't tell me that I'm too late..." He trailed off, rushing back to the windows to only see... The lifeless body of Shiho._

_"NO-"_

"You don't need to worry about me, not anymore."

"Huh?" Akira snapped back to reality again, looking at the soon-to-be-dead girl in from him. 'Did I just saw the future again?' He thought.

Now know what'll happen in the future, Akira decided to follow her and skipped those classes. And what happened next... Is history.

* * *

[26th May, PT's Hideout.]

"So I did saw the future... but why?" He thought out loud, not noticing the weird look from Ann and the others.

Ann hesitated for a second before tapping his shoulder. "Um... Earth to Akira?"

"What?" He perked his head up, finally remembering that he was still in the hideout. "Oh, what are we talking about earlier?"

"We are discussing how to celebrate our successful mission." Shiho explained, crossing her arms. "You're OK?"

"Wait, ain't we celebrated Madarame's mission by that dinner at my place?" He asked, tilting his head in confusion. "And we're not going to Hilton again, right?"

"Nah, that's too much for us." Ryuji shrugged, leaning his back to the railing. "We've agreed on havin' a hot pot at Renren's place, and you're the only one who still didn't decide to agree or not."

"Hot pot?" The persudo-detective raised an eyebrow for a moment, before nodding in agreement. "Yeah, I'm fine with it."

Smiling at his response, the model clapped her hands together. "Now that's set! We're going to have a hot pot as a celebration!"

"Boss is going to kill me..." Ren jokingly sighed, but he still held a smile on his face. "But let's call it a day, we should have some rest."

The group nodded and separated toward their homes. However, Shiho stopped in mid-way and turned around, keeping her eyes at Akira's back for a while before turning back.

During that battle, when Mitsuyo's shadow was about to hit her and Akira saved her, she felt something different about him.

He's not... familiar.

She can feel that there's not Moriarty inside him.

She felt something else in him, a dangerous one.

* * *

And with that, chapter 23 of P5: Another Thief concludes! thank you for reading!

So yeah, Akira can see the future, but only to the tragedy or loss of life that's going to happen. And that's because of that 'it' Mitsuru mentioned.

If you didn't notice, he always said "Just in time" when he changed something from the future. ;)

But, instead of a gift to him... I think this is a curse from the past for him.

And this is going to tied to what exactly happened to him in the past.

Anyway, I hope you would enjoy this story so far, reviews are welcome!


	24. Chapter 24: calm before the date

[26th May, evening.]

After a long and tiring train ride to Jongen-Jaya, Akira dragged himself to the apartment building, ready to just fell on his sofa and slept through the night. But the mountain of boxes blocked his door again.

Akira sighed in frustration, facepalming. "Not again..." He murmured, turning back to the neighbor's door.

He pressed the doorbell again and the door opened almost instantly. "Um... Shinji-Kun, your boxes are blocking my-"

The persudo-detective paused in mid-sentence, noting that it was a new person greeting him. It was a young girl who was about the same age as Asuka and Shinji, she has bright blue neck-length hairs and crimson eyes. Also, her skin was strangely pale.

"Who are you?" The young girl asked monotonously, tilting her head in confusion. "Why did you know Ikari-Kun?"

Even though creeped out from her unusual attitude, Akira decided just ignored that for now. "Uh... I'm your neighbor, and those boxes are blocking my front door." He explained, trying his best to sound nice.

The young girl peeked over me and saw those boxes. "Oh." She said, turning around and called someone else. "Aida-Kun!"

A young boy with a pair of huge round glasses and messy brown hairs came out, holding a recorder for some reason. "What happened, Ayanami?" He asked, rubbing his eyes as if he's still half awake. "I just woke up."

"The boxes are blocking our neighbor's door," Ayanami said, pointing at the boxes behind Akira. "And those boxes are mostly your figure kit."

The young boy paused for a moment, eyes darting between Akira and those boxes before widening his eyes in realization. "Oh! I'm sorry 'bout that!" He exclaimed, instantly rushing to those boxes and pick some of them up.

"Uh..." Akira blinked, awkwardly giggling and giving Ayanami a glance. "Is he always like that?"

The blue-haired girl nodded. "I think I should call others to help." She said, walking back into the house and called more peoples to help.

"Rei-Chan, why are you waking me up at this time?" A brunette girl with twin tall and red-rimmed glasses grumbled, rubbing his eyes and froze at the sight of Akira. "Wait, who the hell are you?"

"Dude, don't you know how it feels to have to travel for the whole day?" Another young boy with short black hairs and wearing a black sports jacket and sports pants complained as well. However, he froze when he noticed the appearance of Akira. "Uh... What the hell?"

Rei came back out from the rooms, stretching her arms in tiredness. "He is our neighbor." She explained, helping Aida to carry a box. "And Aida-Kun and all of our's boxes are blocking his front door."

The young boy grunted in annoyance. "Oh Kensuke, you're doing this again." He murmured to himself, stacking at least four boxes together and put it inside of the apartment.

"Aida-Kun... How many times are we going to clean up your mess..." Another brunette with a darker shade of brown and freckles came out and sighed at the scene. "Also, Mari-Chan, it's your idea what we should put those here."

"Oh c'mon..." Mari sighed, facepalming before helping to pick up some box as well. "I thought that apartment was empty!"

"I lived alone." Akira deadpanned.

"See? That's why-" She paused in mid-sentence, widening her eyes in shock. "Wait, you live alone?!"

"Is there any problem?"

"N-no." The brunette shuttered, turning back to her roommates. "Nerd-Kun, some of those boxes are my stuff, right?"

"Yeah." Kensuke nodded, tossing a huge box to her. "That one is your clothes."

After about fifteen minutes or so, they finally put those boxes back in their apartment. Meanwhile, both Asuka and Shinji came back and noticed the scene in front of them.

"Uh... Ichijou-San?" Shinji asked. "What happened, the boxes incident again?"

"It is, Baka-Shinji." Asuka deadpanned, pointing at the boxes inside their apartment. "Who is responsible this time?"

"Kensuke/ Nerd-Kun/ Aida-Kun." The group answered in unison, all pointing at the poor boy.

"Of course..." The German redhead facepalmed. "Well, what can I expect from the Three Stooges?"

"But you're always hanging out with Puppy-Kun." Mari retorted, pointing at Shinji to emphasize the point. "Um... How can you explain that, Princess?"

Asuka just pointed at her uniform in response. "C'mon, we're both in Shujin."

"That never means that you're required to always appear beside him."

"I'm worried about Baka-Shinji, that's all."

Shinji hesitated for a second, before holding his hand up. "Did I get any say in this situation-"

"No, you're not!" Asuka instantly exclaimed, shutting him up.

"O-OK..."

Akira awkwardly coughed, taking a step away from the group. "I think I'll just leave you guys alone..." He murmured, turning back and opened his door.

However, a tap on his shoulder interrupted him. The persudo-detective turned around and saw the other brunette with freckles.

"Uh... Sir, are you fine to have dinner with all of us?" She requested with a cute smile, causing Akira to stuck between saying yes or not.

"U-uh... I'm sorry but I can't..." He trailed off, remembering that he didn't know the name of the groups other than Shinji and Asuka.

"I'm Hikari Horaki, just call me 'Hikari'."

"Yeah, I'm sorry Hikari-San." Akira awkwardly nodded, noting that the scene between Mari and Asuka had been cooled off.

Hikari turned around and cleared her throat. "Everyone, let's not bother our nrighbor..." She paused, eyes darting between Akira and the groups with a faint blush. "Uh..."

Knowing that he never introduced himself to the groups(Other and Shinji and Asuka.), Akira waved casually. "I"m Akira Ichijou, just call me 'Akira'."

"Yeah, let's not bother Akira-San anymore." Hikari quickly followed, deadpanned as she saw the widened eyes from the others. "And we had already made a scene in this place."

"But he doesn't seem like bothered-" The sports-looking boy said, but interrupted himself as he saw the glare from her.

"Toji."

"Fine..." Toji sighed, turning his gaze back to Akira. "Oh, we still didn't introduce ourselves."

"I am Toji Suzuhara, call me 'Toji'."

The other young boy adjusted his glasses, holding his hand out to him. "I am Kensuke Aida, or 'Kensuke'."

Akira took his hand and the two shook their hands. "Well, I think I'm next." The brunette sighed, pushing up her glasses before introducing herself. "Mari Makinami Illustrious."

"Mari Maki- what?" Akira questioned, raising an eyebrow in confusion.

"I know my name is too long to remember." Mari shrugged. "Just call me 'Mari'."

"Nice to meet you, Mari-San." The persudo-detective awkwardly smiled, turning to the last girl at the scene.

"I'm Rei Ayanami." The bright blue-haired girl introduced, tugging her hair. "You can call me... please call me 'Ayanami'."

Akira awkwardly laughed, taking a step back. "Well, nice to meet all of you. But I do have some other things to do... Maybe I can introduce some fun places in the future." He said, opening his apartment's front door. "Good night, everyone."

With that said, to enter his apartment and left the group in the hallway.

* * *

[27th May, Afternoon]

Akira, Ren, and Ann were listening to some lectures from Kawakami when their phones suddenly buzzed. Taking his phone out from his pocket, Ren found that it was from the group chat, unsurprisingly.

**[Phantom Thief's group chat]**

**Hifumi: Greetings, everyone.**

**Hifumi: I forgot to tell all of you about my mother.**

**Hifumi: She's fine, just devasted from the realization of what she's done.**

**Hifumi: We've talked for the whole night and she apologized for everything.**

**Hifumi: She has decided to hold a press conference, to apologize for what she's done.**

**Akira: Well, I hope the public won't be too hard on you two.**

**Shiho: About that notebooks, did you gave her that as well?**

**Hifumi: Yes, I tried to find an excuse to explain the appearance of this notebook, but mother just said she doesn't care.**

**Hifumi: She has been regretting this decision since that day, I think it's the best to just let her be.**

**Keigo: Another family saved, nice.**

**Ryuji: Dude, it's not an effin' video game.**

**Keigo: Can't I just lighten up the mood? Even for a bit?**

**Yusuke: But you always choose the worst time to 'lighten up the mood'. **

**Ren: Yusuke had a point, Keigo.**

**Akira: I agree with Ren.**

**Akira: But don't worry, I won't tell Mitsuru-San about this.**

**Keigo: Fine, I'll watch my mouth.**

**Ann: Are you finished with the 'boys talk'? Cause we're leaving Hifumi waiting.**

**Yusuke: Oh, right. Hifumi.**

**Hifumi: Actually... It's fine. **

**Hifumi: By the way, it's funny to see you act like a teenager.**

**Hifumi: Not that I'm not one myself.**

**Ann: Uh... You sounded like a mom.**

**Shiho: Yeah, you're not that old.**

**Hifumi: I know, maybe my motherly nature was acting on me.**

**Yusuke: I think you'll be an excellent mother.**

Then, a sense of awkward silence clouded the thieves, until Akira and Ryuji unironically replied at the same time.

**Akira: Oh c'mon, no PDA in this group!**

**Ryuji: Dude! No PDA in here!**

**Yusuke: PDA? What is that?**

**Ren: Oh god, he's really in a different frequency than us, right?**

**Keigo: From what we've seen, that seems to be the fact.**

**Ann: Boys...**

**Shiho: What had we got ourselves into...**

And with that, they ended the conversation and returned to their respective lessons. Well, not for Akira. After closing the window of their group chat, he opened another chat session with Shiho.

'Here's go nothing, Akira.' He thought to himself, nervously typing on his phone's keyboard.

**Akira: Hey.**

**Shiho: Hmm? What?**

**Akira: Uh... Are you free on Sat-**

'No, that's not genuine.' Akira frowned to himself, deleting the text he was writing, then changed to another one.

**Akira: I have something to ask you.**

**Akira: Can we meet at lunch?**

**Shiho: Of course, where?**

**Akira: Uh... Courtyard? I don't really know where to go to.**

**Shiho: Courtyard is fine.**

**Shiho: Well, see you there...?**

With that, they ended the conversation.

* * *

[Lunch, Courtyard]

Once the bell rang and the lunch period arrived, Akira instantly bought some bread for the two of them and got to the courtyard. Sitting at the blue bench aside, his heart rate only quickened as time goes on.

Seeing the visible nervousness on his face, Moriarty appeared in front of him. _**"Akira,**** you don't need to be this nervous."**_ He said, frowning at his owner.

"I-I know, Moriarty." Akira hesitated nodded, leaning further to the bench. "But it's the first time that I- I'm asking her on a date!"

_**"Well, I'm pretty sure that she's going to refuse."**_

"I'm worried that I might be like an idiot in front of her." The persudo-detect explained, sighing heavily. "You know, with those shutters and-"

"Hey, Akira," Shiho greeted, stopping in mid-walk and tilting her head in confusion. "D-did I just interrupted something?"

The Persona and his owner glanced at each other for a brief moment, before quickly turned back to her. "O-oh, it's nothing." Akira smiled, recalling his Persona. "J-just some self-reflecting with Moriarty."

"Self... reflecting?"

"Y-yeah, self-reflecting." He quickly coughed, taking a few moments before continuing. "U-um... Actually, I wanna ask you about..."

"Are you free on Saturday?"

Shiho raised an eyebrow in response. "Saturday?" She pondered for a moment. "Um... I think I'm free on that day, but why are you asking me 'bout that?"

"Well, I..." Akira paused in mid-sentence, causing her to tilt her head in confusion. "There's a movie I kinda want to watch with you... Maybe we can hang out and have fun... I guess."

"So... you're asking me on a date?"

"N-no! I just want to hang out with a friend." He answered with an awkward laugh, his heartbeat just continued to speed up.

"But it doesn't sound like it."

"W-well... Uh..." The persudo-detective trailed off, trying to find an excuse but failed. "Fine, I'm asking you on a date."

"Guessed it." Shiho smiled, gently nudged his shoulder. "Come on, just be honest with me."

Akira sighed, stuffing his hands into his pocket. "But I don't know what you're going to say with that..."

"You're afraid that I'm going to refuse?" She giggled, looking away from him. "I-Actually, I've been waiting for you to ask me on a date."

"Wha- You waited for me to ask you?"

She nodded. "Yeah, like... two or three years."

"OK..." Akira trailed off, playing with his hair and adjusted his headphones. "That's unexpected."

"Kind of..."

The two then fell into an awkward silence, not willing to look at each other for a long while. Until their Personas can't handle it more and came out from their owners.

_**"For god sake, the silence was ****deafening."**_ Moriarty sighed, crossing his arms. _**"Akira, you bought lunch for you two, just told her that."**_

Jeanne floated to his side, shaking her head in disappointment. _**"Shiho,**** are you just gonna stand here and do nothing?"**_

"I just... don't know what to do." The two owners muttered in unison, causing the two Persona to sigh in more disappointment.

The two Persona glanced at each other. _**"We'll just leave you two alone,"**_ Jeanne said, floating away from the two while pulling Moriarty with her.

Once the two Persona was far enough from their owners, they crouched behind the fences and peeked over. Only to be disappointed as their owners still didn't do anything.

_**"Jesus, when are they going to something more than just standing there."**_ Moriarty murmured, glancing at his companion, frowning as he noted that she just stared at him for no reason. _**"Jeanne? Why are you looking at me like that?"**_

The crystal woman blinked, realizing what just happened and quickly turned away. _**"I'm fine, just noticed something on your face."**_

_**"Really?"**_ The dark blue Persona tilted his head in suspicion. _**"We're Persona, or tamed shadow."**_

_**"So?"**_

_**"We're the repressed side of them."**_

_**"So?"**_

_**"You have a crush on me, right?"**_ Moriarty winked, leaning a bit closer to her. _**"Since Shiho had one on Akira."**_

_**"I think you got one for me as well."**_ Jeanne shrugged, smirking as she leaned closer to him as well. _**"Since Akira also had one on Shiho."**_

_**"I admit that."**_ The dark blue Persona smirked, taking her hand and squeezed. _**"But we should wait for those two dorks to FINALLY confess their feeling."**_

_**"I'm fine with that."**_ The crystal woman shrugged. _**"Just waited for the date."**_

_**"I'll advise Akira to confess at the date,"**_ Moriarty said, releasing her hand and glanced at the courtyard. _**"Wait, they finally did something."**_

Jeanne raised an eyebrow, turning her focus back to the courtyard.

Akira and Shiho finally broke their silence and sat down on the blue bench, eating the bread he bought for both of them. "Umm... What should we watch on the date?" Shiho suddenly asked, causing the persudo-detective to glance at her.

"Uh... I don't know." He admitted, awkwardly playing with his hair. "I don't even know what movies are playing in the cinema."

"You serious?" The volleyball played exclaimed in disbelief. "Did you even planned before asking me out?"

"I-This is my first date with any girl." Akira murmured, swiping his bangs to the side. "I'll let you decide what to watch."

"W-well, I did have a movie that I wanted to watch." Shiho shuttered, a faint blush crept on her face. "It's a romantic comedy with volleyball mixed in it."

"Volleyball, of course." He giggled at her suggestion. "I'm fine with that."

"O-OK..."

With that said, the two fell into silence again for the rest of the lunch period. After the bell rang again and the period ended, they returned to their classroom and continued on their boring day again.

* * *

[Evening, Akira's apartment]

After school ended, Akira instantly got back to his apartment (He ignored his neighbor in the process) and threw his bags to the couch. Taking his phone out from his pocket and opened the contact list, he scrolled through the list and narrowed his eyes.

"Um... Akihiko-San never dated, not even Mitsuru-San." He murmured to himself, glancing at the next name on the list. "Fuuka-San... No, she's not an expert to relationships."

"Minako-San... She'll just tease the crap out of me, same with Yukari-San."

"Shinjiro-San?" He asked out loud, tilted his head thoughtfully for a second before shaking his head. "No, he'll just tell me to not bother him."

"Junpei-Kun?" Akira paused for a second, before quickly shaking his head and stopped himself from calling Junpei. "No, never ask for advice from the Ace Defective."

"Man, I wish I could just ask Minato-San for advice..." He trailed off, sighing heavily as he remembered the unfortunate fact. "I really missed him."

"What would he say if he's still alive?" He thought out loud, leaning further to the couch. "Maybe he'll just say 'I don't care'..."

"But he cares about me... like I'm his brother he never had." Akira finished, raising an eyebrow as he noticed something wrong. "What he'll say?"

_**"Nothing."**_

"Moriarty, I'm just thinking out loud-" Akira paused, instantly straightened up as glanced around him. "Wait, that's not Moriarty."

The voice wasn't like the one he's used to. It was distorted, even more than the shadows he'd encountered in the Meta-verse. And it felt... off. The voice wasn't based on himself, but someone else.

"Moriarty? Please don't prank me." He said. "It's not funny."

_**"I didn't do anything."**_ His Persona appeared in front of him, crossing his arms and tilted his head in confusion. _**"Why would I just prank you for no reason at all?"**_

"B-but..."

_**"I think you're just too paranoid."**_ Moriarty shrugged. _**"C'mon, just relax. It'll be fine."**_

"I-I guess." Akira hesitantly nodded, taking a deep breath. However, the voice still lingered in his mind.

"What the hell was that voice..."

* * *

And with that, chapter 24 of P5: Another Thief concludes! thank you for reading!

The confession is near! The first couple of this fic is finally coming! YESSSS!

And... I don't have much to say.

Reviews response:

**RosyMiranto18: So about Akira's 'it', I think I'll stick to P3 rules of greek gods to amplify the connection between him and P3 cast(Especially our favorite Door-Kun.). Also, it felt weird to see someone else theorized with my fic, but you're not far from the answer ;).**

**BTW, it took me two read to finally get the King Crimson reference XD.**

**Guest: Thank you! It's awesome to know that you're enjoying this fic!**

Anyway, I hope you would enjoy this story so far, reviews are welcome!


	25. Chapter 25: The date

[28th May, early morning]

Akira woke up panicking.

He walked around in his room in a circle, biting his lips. "Crap, crap..." He murmured, repeating this single word.

Why was he like this? It's because he forgot one important thing about his date with Shiho. He was asking her on Friday. Thus today's the day.

"I'm so messed up!" Akira grunted, finally stopped walking around and curled up to a ball. "I messed up my first date!"

Moriarty appeared in the room, trying his best to reassure his owner. **_"Akira! It's OK! You don't need to full-on panic mode with this small mistake!_****_" _**

"I-I didn't plan for anything!"

**_"Oh."_** The Persona froze but quickly recovered from the shock. **_"Wait, you said you would watch a movie with her and had dinner-"_**

"I didn't plan for anything other than the movie part!" Akira exclaimed. "What should I do? Oh god, it's going to be a nightmare..."

**_"Just take her to the park and confess your feeling,"_** Moriarty suggested, only to shiver as Akira glared at him. **_"Don't tell me you're not going to do that."_**

"I need time to prepare the confession."

_**"You need time?!"** _

"I'm not emotionally prepared for a confession." The persudo-detective explained, avoiding his Persona's glance. "What if she refused-"

**_"She waited for three years for a date with you, why would she refuse?"_** Moriarty asked, tilting his head in more confusion. **_"Have faith in yourself."_**

Akira hesitantly nodded. "I'll try my best..." He trailed off, walking toward the wardrobe before his phone suddenly buzzed.

Slowly turning around in pure fear, Akira gulped before picking up his phone and checked. It was a call from Shiho. He glanced at his Persona for a split second before pressing the 'accept' button.

"H-hey Shiho, why calling now?" He awkwardly laughed, twisting his hair.

"When and where are we going to meet? We never talked about this yesterday." Shiho said through the other side of the line, and she sounded just as nervous as him.

Widening his eyes in horror, Akira quickly checked the time before answering. "M-maybe after school?" He said, trying his best to stay calm.

"U-uh... Maybe." Shiho said, pausing for a brief moment before continuing. "I need a bit more time to prepare myself too."

"O-ok." Akira awkwardly laughed again. "So after school, and we meet at the front gate... Is this fine with you?"

"Yeah," She agreed. "See you there, Aki-chan~."

"I told you not to use that name again-" Before he could finish the sentence, the call ended with a beep. Akira sighed and put the phone on the table, opening his wardrobe.

"Any suggestion, Moriarty?"

**_"No. I don't have one."_** Moriarty replied, shaking its head. **_"Aren't we having school for today?"_**

"O- You're right." Akira widened his eyes in realization, turning back to his wardrobe.

He pondered for a second and sighed, putting on his school uniform. After that, he walked into the restroom and examined himself in the mirror.

"It's fine." The persudo-detective shrugged, tiding his hair. "It's fine enough for me."

Then, he packed his phone and other valuables to his schoolbag. "I'm ready to go. Now for the planning part." He said to himself, walking to his storeroom and took out a whiteboard to the living room.

Moriarty appeared next to him, crossing his arms. **_"You're overacting, Akira."_** He deadpanned.

"I know," Akira shrugged, grabbing a black marker and drew a timeline. "But, it's necessary."

The Persona opened his mouth to say something, but stopped he said anything. **_"I don't think Naoto-San taught you skills for this..."_**

"But she doesn't know about this, just keep this as my little secret." The persudo-detective said. "OK, so it's the movie." He murmured, writing 'movie' at the start of the timeline.

"So, where should I go with her after that?" Akira asked himself, tapping the mark on the board thoughtfully. "Arcade? No, she's not as a big gamer as Ann. After all, volleyball took the majority of her free time."

**_"Are you sure about that?"_**

"Don't disturb me, please." He plainly stated, sighing and wrote 'Arcade?' on the timeline. "But, I'll consider it, thanks."

**_"Tsundere."_** Moriarty joked, giggling at Akira's glare.

"I hate you."

**_"But I'm your Persona. I am thou, thou art I, remember?"_**

"But you're not like-" Akira interrupted himself, glancing at the clock behind his Persona. "We shouldn't waste our time anymore. There's not much time left before school."

**_"Then stop looking at me and focus on planning the date, I'll remind you when we're late."_** Moriarty deadpanned, disappearing in thin air.

Taking a deep sigh, Akira turned around and continued to plan the date. He wrote a good number of ideas on the whiteboard and deleted some of them. And he repeated the process for a good while until Moriarty's voice rang out again.

**_"Akira, you're about to be late."_**

The persudo-detective raised an eyebrow in confusion, turning around to have a glance at the clock. "Wait, I've only planned for a short while-" Akira interrupted himself, widening his eyes in horror.

"Crap." He murmured to himself, before hastily taking a photo of the whiteboard and rushed out of his apartment.

* * *

On the other hand, Rei and Kensuke just came out of their apartment. Smiling and intertwined their hands as they walked to the elevator. Rei was wearing a typical Shujin uniform with a white rabbit hairclip on her hair, while Kensuke was wearing a Kosei uniform.

"I still can't believe we've been dating for a year now," Kensuke said, adjusting his glasses with his off-hand. "You're fine with a romantic comedy, Rei?"

"Sort of," Rei shrugged, placing her head at his shoulder. "And it's your pick. I'll try it out."

"You'll like it." The nerdy teen grinned. "Trust me-"

However, before Kensuke could even finish his words, the sound of terrified Akira startled him.

"EXCUSE ME!" Akira exclaimed while dashing through the couple, almost crashing with them.

"Wha- what just happened?" Kensuke questioned out loud.

"I don't know either." Rei tilted her head, and the two glanced at each other in confusion.

"Maybe he's gonna be late-" The nerd stopped himself in mid-sentence, taking his phone out from his pocket and chocked the time. "Oh shit." He murmured, widening his eyes in horror.

"We're gonna be late!" He exclaimed, taking her hand and rushed to the elevator.

Meanwhile, Akira rushed into the building's elevator and got to the ground floor. Once he reached the ground floor and the street of Jongen-Jaya, he instantly continued his dash toward the station.

As Akira passed Leblanc, Ren just came out with Morgana in his shoulder bag, waving at him. "Hey, Akir-" Before he could finish, the persudo-detective ran past him without with a gaze of wind struck him, messing up Ren's already fuzzy hair.

"Um... Kay?"

Morgana poked his head out of Ren's bag, raising an eye in pure confusion at Akira's direction. "Ren, what happened to Akira?"

"How would I know?"

"I'm just asking. He should be in Shujin by this time," Morgana shrugged, retracting his head back into the shoulder bag. "We're going to late! And that's because you didn't listen to me!"

"You just told me to sleep-" Akira stopped himself, adjusting his glasses and ran to the station.

* * *

After a mad dash toward the station, the group got to their school just in time, luckily. "Thank god..." Akira sighed, crouching down and slowly panted. "At least I can continue my planning in classes."

_**"Maybe, but you're going to forget it anyway."**_

"Shut up, Moriarty." The persudo-detective rolled his eyes, standing up and walked toward class 2-D's classroom.

And after a few more minutes, Rei, Ren, and a young girl with crimson hair tied to a ponytail also got to the school, barely on time.

"Kawakami's going to kill me..." Ren murmured, taking a deep breath and ran upstairs toward the classroom, leaving the two other girls alone.

The young girl sighed in exhaustion, turning to Rei. "Um... Hi." She greeted awkwardly. "Do you know where the teacher's office is? I'm new here."

Rei shook her head in response. "No, this is my first day in Shujin too."

"Oh, we're on the same boat then." The girl sighed again, holding her hand out. "Kasumi Yoshizawa, nice to meet you."

"I'm Rei Ayanami... Nice to meet you too," The azure-haired girl took her hand and the two shook their hands.

Rei noted a sign behind Kasumi and raised an eye. "I think the office might be there..." She said, pointing at the direction the sign was.

"There?" Kasumi asked, raising an eye before turning around. "Oh, yeah."

With a nod from each other, the two new transfers walked toward the direction of the teacher's office.

And the day continued like how it used to.

* * *

[After school]

Once the bell rang, signaling the end of today, Akira instantly got up from his seat and packed up his bag. Ready to run straight to the front gate.

Unfortunately, he was interrupted by Ann's voice. "Akira, you're going somewhere?" She asked, tilting her head in confusion. "I've never seen you in a rush like this."

"Kind of." He replied, picking his bag up and shifted his headphones around his neck. "I'm sorry, but time's running out."

Before Ann can even open her mouth to respond, he rushed toward the classroom's door and left, dashing down the stairs. "Shiho should be there by now-"

"Ichijou." Akira's monologue was interrupted as he heard someone around called him, turning his head to the direction toward the voice.

It was Makoto.

"Nijima-Senpai, what are you calling me for?" He questioned, tilting his head in confusion and walked up to her. "I have someone waiting for me."

"That 'someone' can wait for a bit, right?" Makoto asked with a raised eye, looking down for a moment and sighed. "I need your help."

"Help?" The persudo-detective asked with a raised eye, shifting his shoulder bag. "You know, we've only met for once..."

"But, I also heard that your investigation skill is better than everyone else." The president continued. "And I need those investigation skills of yours."

"For what?"

"The principal requested me to look into the 'Phantom Thief' business," Makoto answered, causing Akira to widen his eyes in shock.

Even though he's shocked at first, but Akira quickly regained his composure, clearing his throat. "Well, that's reasonable."

"After all, Kamoshida's confession did cause a ripple effect."

The president nodded in agreement. "And I have a suspect for you to look into." She said, taking her phone out and showed a photo of Ren to him. "His name is Ren Amamiya-"

"You don't need to introduce him to me. We're friends."

Makoto smiled and put the phone back to the pocket. "Well, that's better. I can save some time in the introduction."

"Can you look into him?" She requested, trying her best to sound sincere. "I cannot do this alone... And principal Kobayakawa had been pressuring me to give him a report..."

"U-uh..." Akira trailed off, hopping between accepting or not in his mind. 'This is the weirdest request I've ever got...' He thought.

_**"But you'll be suspicious if you refuse her,"**_ Moriarty said. _**"And sidenote, Shiho's waiting."**_

'Oh, right, Shiho!'

Remembering the fact that Shiho's waiting for him, Akira quickly nodded in acceptance. "O-OK, I'm in." He answered, shifting his bag to ready to run away. "Maybe we'll talk on Monday. Someone's waiting for me."

Seeing a nod from the president, Akira instantly dashed off the scene, running to the front gate.

* * *

[about half an hour later, Front gate]

Even though there is still some time left before noon. Shiho had already arrived at the front gate, waiting for Akira. "Where is he..." She trailed off, glancing around for the sight of him.

Seeing no sight of her old friend, the volleyball player sighed and pulled out her phone. She opened the contact list and called Akira.

But before the call could even connect, a pair of rushed footsteps and heavy panting rang behind her. "I was about to call you, Aki-Chan." She sighed, putting her phone back to her pocket.

"I-I'm sorry..." Akira breathed between panting, tiding his messed up hair. "Nijima-Senpai just asked me to help her with something..."

"You know, there's a word called 'No,' right?"

"There's no one else to help her... And I'm the only one."

Shiho just sighed in response, shaking her head with a ghost of a smile. "Typical you."

"Anyway, let's go." She said, gesturing in the direction to the station.

Akira nodded and followed her, and the duo walked toward the station in comfortable silence. The sun started to set, and it's light shined on the volleyball player, catching Akira's eyes and not letting go.

However, he quickly shook his head and looked away, but his glance always unintentionally moved to her hand. 'Should I...' He thought, hesitating on whether to hold her hand or not.

However, his glances didn't go unnoticed from Shiho. "You're staring at my hand." She said with a faint blush on her cheeks. "Is there something wrong with it?"

The persudo-detective instantly snapped his head away from her hand, eyes widening. "N-no, I'm j-just deep in thought about something." He Shuttered, avoiding her confused gaze. "Habits."

"You're a poor lier, Aki-Chan."

"We talked about the name, and you promised me not to use it again." Akira murmured, and his faint smile only suggested otherwise. "But I can make an exception if I got to call you Shi-Chan."

"No, you're not." Shiho stuck out her tongue in response. "And you can't control how I call you." She said, smirking at the sight of him being speechless.

"You got me there," Akira said after a small pause, noting that they've arrived at the cinema.

The two got into the waiting line, and Shiho took out her phone to search the name of the movie. Akira, on the other hand, was checking his wallet.

However, a tap on his shoulder captured his attention from his wallet. "Aki-Chan, I got the name of the movie." Shiho grinned, showing her phone to him.

Akira narrowed his eyes at the screen, which showed an info page of the movie. "'Spike!'... That sounds so lame." He said, widening his eyes at the list of actors involved.

"Wait, Kanami-San and Rise-San were involved in it?" The persudo-detective raised an eyebrow, rubbing his nosebridge as if he's wearing glasses. "Now, you got my attention."

"I thought they were focusing on their music career..."

"I heard that this is their first movie," Shiho explained, putting her phone back into her jacket's pocket. "And it's not like they're bad at acting."

"I don't know how good is Kanami-San's acting, but Rise-San is very good at it," Akira said.

"For real?" Her grin only grew wider at his comment, anticipation building up in her heart. "I'm already excited about this film, now with your comment..."

"The anticipation is through the roof, right?" He smirked, snapping his attention away from her as they arrived at the ticket counter. "I'll pay for us."

"Huh?" Shiho slightly widened her eyes in surprise. "You don't need to pay for me-"

"Just think this as my way to make up for being late."

Even though she wanted to refuse his offer, but Shiho decided not to reject his offer. "...OK, but I'll pay for our popcorn and drinks." She sighed after a brief pause.

Nodding, Akira turned around to the ticket counter. "We'd like to see 'Spike!' at 12:30," He said, opening his wallet and paid for the two of them. The ticket clerk nodded and took the money, giving him the tickets and the change.

They entered the theater and handed the ticket. Arriving at the snack court, Shiho chose a medium-sized popcorn and another medium soft drink. "What's yours pick, Aki-Chan?"

"I... I don't want to cost you any more money." Akira sighed, shifting his crossover bag. "I'm fine with no snacks."

The volleyball player narrowed her eyes for a second, before turning back to the counter. "Excuse me, can I have another straw?" She asked.

The staff gave another straw to her, and she stuck it to her soft drinks. "I'll share it with you." She said, giving him a wink.

"Uh... you don't need to-"

"I want to." Shiho interrupted him, walking toward the theater with him by her side.

* * *

Even though Akira had a pretty low expectation and expected nothing (aside from seeing Rise's first time acting.), but the movie was... surprisingly good. The chemistry between her and the male protagonist was interesting, and their acting was very good for an idol.

As for the film itself, it was about Rise's character- Yuri, the captain of her school's volleyball team. As a very straight to the point person, she was called 'cold beauty' by everyone in the school (And it bothered Akira a lot. After all, she's the polar opposite in person.).

But contrast from her usual impression, Yuri had a crush on her childhood friend- Kazuto. And the first two acts of the movie revolved around the attempts from Yuri to get closer to Kazuto, not knowing that he also had a crush on her.

On the other hand, Kanami played Yui, the only friend of Yuri, aside from Kazuto. She was a part-time model and the president of the news club. She had been giving advice and helping Yuri to get his attention and join them together.

Even though the similarity between the movie and Akira's situation was uncanny, but he didn't notice it at all.

Instead, he kept trying to hold his focus on the movie. Afraid of just staring at Shiho like an idiot. 'C'mon, get a hold to yourself, Ichijou.' He thought.

However, his resolve only weakened again and again by her giggle and offers. "Aki-Chan, you're OK?" She whispered, leaned closer to him. "You didn't respond."

"I-I'm OK." The persudo-detective replied with a nod. "It's just... It's weird to drink the same drink with you."

"Hmm? Why?"

"It's indirect kissing, you know." He explained. "I-it feels awkward."

"Oh..." Shiho trailed off, a deep shade of red crept onto her cheeks. "Sorry 'bout that."

"It's fine," Akira whispered, giving her a reassuring smile. "But I think...Wait, I think it is the confession scene." He said, shifting his attention back to the movie.

Shiho instantly turned back toward the movie at his word. "Oh, here it is!"

The scene was set in the final act of the film. Yuri was anxious about the finals of the nationals and called Kazuto to talk.

"Yuri, you're OK?"

"No, not really," Yuri mumbled, leaning against the railing and looked to the dying sun far away. "I'm... I don't know."

"You're nervous about the finals?" Kazuto asked, leaning beside her. "I don't know how it feels, but... You'll be fine. I trust you."

"Why?"

"Why? For what?"

"Why did you care?" Yuri asked, shifting her eyes from the sun to him. "I know we've known each other for a long while, but aren't you having a crush on Shiori?"

"I only saw her as a friend, for the whole time," Kazuto explained, his eyes meeting hers. "However, I did have a crush on someone."

Yuri's head perked up at his word. "You had one?" She asked, only loud enough for him to hear. "O-on who?"

"You."

Before she can even react to his sudden confession, Kazuto leaned in and pressed his lips to hers. The camera cut to another angle with their silhouette in the frame, with the dying sun shining over them.

Shiho was smiling brightly at the scene, imagining the two characters in the film as herself and Akira. Meanwhile, Akira also imagined the same thing, but his rational part quickly took over and pulled him out from the imagination.

'maybe I can confess my feeling like this.' He thought, unintentionally rubbing his chin. 'Asking her to recreate this scene and confess... That'll be great.'

_**"Will you do the kiss as well?"**_

'Shut up, Moriarty.' Akira retorted in his mind, glancing at Shiho to see if she noticed their conversation. 'But I'll consider that.'

_**"T~sun~dere~,"**_ Moriarty said in a sing-song tone, only causing his owner to roll his eyes in annoyance.

'I effin' hate you.'

* * *

After the movie ended, the two decided to go to Inokashira Park. They walked around the lake in the center and enjoyed the time with each other.

"It's better than I thought, by a long shot," Akira commented, stuffing his hands into his jacket's pocket. "Maybe I should tell Rise-San my thought on her acting."

"Yeah, she's awesome!" Shiho agreed, greeting him with a beaming smile. "I still can't believe this is her first time acting."

"Me neither." The persudo-detective nodded. "I can't believe she'd accept a role like this. It's too different for her to pull it off."

"And that confession scene was so good!"

"I know, it's great."

Shiho smiled, and the two continued their walk in comfortable silence, they reached a small lake and stopped. The two watched the lake in front of them, both looking for the right moment to confess their feeling.

The silence between slowly but surely turned from comfortable to an awkward one, time passed without their notice. But after a long while, the two started in unison.

"Actually- / Shiho, I lov-" They paused and stared at each other, before turning away and fell into silence again.

"Um... Awkward, right?" Shiho awkwardly laughed, tugging her hair around her ears.

"Y-yeah." Akira shuttered, clearing his throat before facing her. "I'll go first." He mumbled, stiffening as he knows what he's gonna say.

"Actually, I asked you on a date for a reason..." He said, tightening his grip at his crossover bag. "C-can you-" He shuttered again, sighing in disappointment toward himself.

_**"Akira, if you're too nervous to say it out, just kiss her."**_

'I- You serious?'

_**"Of course!"**_

'...Fine! I'll do it-'

"Akira?" Shiho asked with a concerned look, interrupting the argument between persudo-detective and Moriarty. "You just stopped talking for a minute."

Snapping back into reality, Akira blinked in slight confusion. "Oh, I just talked with Moriarty." He said.

"Talked with him?" Shiho only blinked, tilting her head in pure confusion. "For what?"

"Something I'm about to say." Akira took a deep breath before continuing. "Shiho, can you be my girlfriend?"

The volleyball player froze at his sudden confession, widening her eyes in surprise. "W-wait, did you just confess to me?"

"Y-yeah."

She sighed and fell into deep thought for a few seconds, before looking right into his eyes again. "I-I want to-" she interrupted herself, cupping his cheeks with her hands.

She shook her head and cleared her thought. "I love you."

Shiho leaned in and pressed her lips on Akira's, closing her eyes and just lived in the moment.

"...?!" He widened his eyes in surprise, but quickly snapped out from it and closed his eyes too. Wrapping his arms around her waist and held her close.

Time passed without them noticing, and they kept their lips connected and forgot the world around them. After like... a minute? Five? Ten? They reluctantly pulled their lips apart and kept looking at each other's eyes.

"Taste like popcorn." Akira joked, earning a giggle from her.

"Don't tell me this is why you didn't eat any popcorn."

"Kind of."

"Meanie." Shiho pouted, giving another peek on his lips.

"I know." He winked, tightening his embrace around her. "I love you too."

* * *

And with that, chapter 25 of P5: Another Thief concludes! Thank you for reading!

(Clear throat) After 25 chapters and a few teasing(Pun intended), the first couple finally got together! Yes!

On a side note, the start of this chapter was an accident. I forgot to check the calendar. And the 27th of May was a Friday... So, a happy accident?

**Update: Um... Since there's a fundamental mistake of this chapter (There's school in the day it set), I've done some rewrites for certain parts of this chapter. (Mostly new scenes.)**

**And I decided to introduce Kasumi into this fic as well! This is becoming more of a hybrid between vanilla P5 and Royal than what I thought it originally was... **

**And now Akira had involved with Mokoto's investigation for Phantom Thief(In canon, she started her investigation after Kamoshida's confession), it's going to be weird for him XD.**

Reviews Response:

**RosyMiranto18: About Akira, he did want to be a private investigator or a detective in general. (Akira will talk about it at the hot pot scene) Other than that, he'll be at least suspicious for Akechi at their first meeting. After all, the 'pancake' was evident for someone like him.**

**As for the Evangelion characters, they'll be more like social link characters. A group of characters who crossed paths with PT's social lives and be friends with them. As for the German, Asuka was a mixed-blooded with a quarter Japanese with three-quarters German, so... yeah.**

**For the rules of the group chat... Ren probably just made one rule, and that's no PDA. After all, most of them are still single.**

**Now back to 'it' inside of Akira. Actually, I've decided on who it is, and I'm sorry for the confusion. I had thought about how to introduce 'it' and the aftermath of its appearance, both in Akira and the whole group.**

**Anyway, thank you for sticking with this fic.**

And let's hope that the AN won't occupy half of this chapter.

Well, I hope you would enjoy this story so far, reviews are welcome!


	26. Chapter 26: Darts and games

[29th May. Phantom Thief's hideout]

At the side of Shibuya station's walkway, Ren was checking the Phan-Site while waiting for the others. Morgana also came out from his bag, examing the requests with his friend.

"Mishima did help us here," Ren stated, scrolling through the request tab of the site. "Morgana, how many potential requests we got?"

"Why would you ask me about that?" The feline deadpanned, pointing at some requests with his paw. "But, I don't think there's a single one that worth our time."

"Really?" The fuzzy-haired boy said with a raised eye, before skimming through the requests again. "Uh... 'My boss was an asshole, can you change his heart?', 'My friend didn't return the money'..."

"You're right." He admitted, sighing and switching to the group chat. "Well, let's change the plan just to train and explore Memento."

**Ren: Guys, plan changed.**

**Ryuji: Huh? What?**

**Ren: I was planning to finish some requests on the Phan-Site.**

**Yusuke: But not a single one was serious, right?**

**Ren: yep.**

**Ren: So, we're just going to do some training and explore the Memento.**

**Akira: I'm okay with that.**

**Akira: It's been a while since we even went to Meta-verse.**

**Shiho: Jeanne said she needs some training as well.**

**Akira: She didn't say that.**

**Shiho: Yes, she did.**

**Akira: Whatever.**

**Ren: I was about to use the P-word, just barely.**

**Ren: But you're spared, just for today.**

**Akira: What? Why?**

**Ann: I don't have any plan today, count me in.**

**Ryuji: Count me in!**

**Yusuke: I should be near to the hideout.**

**Ryuji: We just... Expected you to say 'yes' or 'no.'**

**Hifumi: Ryuji had a point.**

**Ren: Morgana just said he agrees with Ryuji too.**

**Akira: That's rare.**

**Akira: Wait, where's Keigo?**

**Ryuji: Yeah, he should be cracking some cringy joke by now.**

**Ryuji: It's weird...**

**Yusuke: It seems he has learned... When to 'lighten the mood.'**

The whole group-chat halted at the artist's message. Only to be broken by Hifumi's response.

**Hifumi: Yusuke, did you just make a joke?**

**Ryuji: Dude, it's even weirder...**

**Akira: Um... okay?**

**Ren: Never expected that.**

**Ann: Keigo, are you using Yusuke's phone to message us?**

**Keigo: Why would I?**

**Shiho: Oh, hey! You're finally here!**

**Akira: I was about to call Mitsuru-San to check your safety.**

**Keigo: You're serious?**

**Akira: No, I'm not.**

**Keigo: I'm not going to stay on this topic anymore.**

**Keigo: Anyway, I'm sorry for not responding.**

**Keigo: But I'm not able to join our training today.**

**Ren: Wait. What?**

**Akira: Hmm... Something urgent?**

**Keigo: It's more like something I promised a while before.**

**Keigo: It's classified, but I'm sorry.**

**Keigo: Just go on without me.**

And with that, Keigo withdrew from the group chat again, leaving the others in pure confusion. "Uh... Strange." Ren murmured, tapping the virtual keyboard on his phone. "Any idea, Morgana?"

"Maybe it's a formal meeting?" The black cat suggested with a raised eyebrow. "I have no idea, like any."

"Whatever, let's call everyone here."

**Ren: We'll talk at the hideout, and I need a new plan for all of us.**

* * *

After waiting for a short while, Ryuji and Ann were the first two to come. "Yo!" The ex-runner greeted with a wave.

"Hey, Ren," Ann said with a smile, remarking the absence of others in the hideout. "Wait, we're the first two?"

"Yeah." Ren nodded, putting his phone back in his pocket. "The others are coming, I think."

"Maybe." Ryuji shrugged, rubbing the back of his neck. "So, what's the new plan?"

"We're probably not going to Memento, right?" The model added.

"Yeah." The fuzzy-haired boy nodded, adjusting his glasses. "I'm thinking of going somewhere with everyone. Have you ever been to Kichijoji?"

"No." Ann and Ryuji answered in unison, shaking their heads.

"I saw a club over there, it seems fun," Ren explained, pulling his phone out and opened a page about the game room. "I think it's called 'Penguin Sniper.'"

"A club? That sounds awesome!" Ryuji grinned. "Ann?"

"I've never been to any club, like ever," Ann commented, tapping her chin as she imagined what'll happen.

And at that same moment, Yusuke walked casually to them, shifting his bangs. "Greetings."

Not only that, Hifumi came over to them from the other side. "Morning, everyone."

"Hey, Yusuke, Hifumi," Ren greeted, showing the page to them as well. "I found a club in Kichijoji. It seems fun."

"'Penguin Sniper,' I think I've heard of this club before," Yusuke commented, crossing his arms thoughtfully. "Some girls in my class talked about this club."

"What's that club about?" Hifumi asked, raising an eye in curiosity.

"Dart and Pool," Ren stated, shrugging. "You're all interested in them, right?"

"Kind of." Ryuji shrugged, noticing that both Akira and Shiho still haven't arrived. "Wait, where's Akira and Shiho?"

"I didn't see them along the way," Yusuke replied, shaking his head in denial.

"Me neither," Hifumi added.

"Hmm... Weird." Ann commented, taking her phone and ready to call them. "I'll call them-"

However, before the model could open the messaging app, the voice of Akira and Shiho interrupted her. "We're sorry!" the duo apologized in unison, panting from the mad dash they did earlier.

"T-train got late..." The persudo-detective explained between panting, using his knees as support.

"Y-yeah..." Shiho nodded, panting heavily in exhaustion too. "We happened to be on the same train..."

The team sweatdropped at their explanation, giving each other an uncertain glance. "It's fine," Ren said, adjusting his glasses. "After all, we've decided to have some fun in Kichijoji."

"Kichijoji?" The duo asked in unison again.

"Yeah, you're in or not?"

Akira and Shiho glanced at each other for a brief moment, before nodding in sync again. "Yeah," Shiho replied, shifting her bangs aside. "I don't think we've been hanging out in a group like... ever."

"Remember, Wilton?" Ann deadpanned, narrowing her eyes suspiciously at them.

"Yeah, we remember that." The duo said in unison again, taken back a little by Ann's suspicious glare.

"Ann, what's with that look?" Akira asked.

"Nothing, just..." The model trailed off, rubbing her chin thoughtfully. "Something feels off between you two."

Ren nodded. "Yeah, now that you mentioned it."

"The sync, it's creepy..." Ryuji trailed off, taking a step away from the duo and glanced at the two Kosei students. "Don't you agree, Yusuke?"

"No, I didn't find it creepy," Yusuke answered, shaking his head and framed Akira and Shiho with his fingers. "The spark of love and passion is shining!"

"Ryuji, you're jealous?" Hifumi faintly smirked, nudging the ex-runner's shoulder.

The ex-runner almost jumped from contact, taking a step away from her. "NO!" He exclaimed. "Why'd I?"

"I don't know," The Shogi player shrugged, tugging her hair aside. "But, you seem like it."

Ryuji wanted to argue at first but sighed in the end. "...I'm not gonna continue on this." He stated, crossing his arms and turned back to the others. "Hey, are we just gonna stand here and do nothing?"

"We're about to go," Ren answered, adjusting his glasses and sighed. "But Akira just told us something important."

"Nijima-Senpai is investigating into us," Akira explained, causing the trio to widen their eyes in shock. "She asked me to help her with that."

"For real?!" The ex-runner exclaimed in disbelief, eyes darting between their leader and the persudo-detective. "You're joking, right?!"

"Why would Akira joked something like that?" Shiho retorted.

"...You're right." Ryuji sighed before pointing at the direction toward the station. "Anyway, we should get going by now."

Ren nodded. "Yeah, let's just forget about this investigation for now."

With that said, the group nodded and walked toward the train station.

* * *

[Kichijoji, SUN ROAD shopping district]

While the Persona users were taking the train to Kichijoji, Keigo and Haru were wandering around different stores, laughing and smiling at the little things.

"Your laptop just died with that?" Keigo laughed, quoting the 'died' with his finger. "That's impossible!"

"It's true!" Haru retorted, pouting and putting her hands on her hips. "Don't laugh at me for this, I don't want that laptop to die like this too!"

"But it's funny." The half-French shrugged, covering his mouth and giggled. "You sound like a grandma, you know."

"I'm not that old..."

"I never said it's a bad thing," Keigo said, playfully flicked her forehead. "You're so adorable, you know."

"A-adorable?" Haru shuttered, a shade of crimson covered her cheeks. "I-I..."

"C'mon, you're adorable," The half-French interrupted her, nudging her shoulder lightly. "Just admit it."

The rich princess sighed and nodded. "You have been teasing me for this whole time." She whispered.

"Becuase you're so easy to tease," Keigo replied with a wink, noting a shop of dount nearby. "Haru, have you ever ate a dount before?"

"Only once." She replied with a somber look, looking down at her feet. "It was about a few years ago, back when my grandfather was still alive-"

Knowing where her response is going, the half-French put his hand on her shoulder, stopped her from continuing. "You don't need to tell it all if it hurts you." He said reassuringly.

Haru stopped and pondered, nodding slightly.

Even though the atmosphere around them softened slightly, but Keigo still noticed the hint of regret in her. He can't blame her, his father controlled her life, and that with asshole called himself 'her fiance' around...

It seems he was the only one who still just wanted to be her friend or someone to let her forget about all those stuff in her life.

"...I take that back." Keigo said, internally hoping that he sounded sincere to her. "I'm here if you have anything to talk with me."

"Huh? Why?"

"I just figured out something." He explained, avoiding to talk about her fiance and father explicitly. "I know you need someone to let you lean on, and I shouldn't just stop you."

"...K-Keigo-Kun..." Haru was speechless from his sudden words of caring, unable to form anything to answer him. "I-I..."

"You don't need to thank me or anything," Keigo smiled.

"But..." She trailed off, sighing, and put on a faint smile on her face. "Anyway, I did want to have some dount with you, and maybe I can create new meaning for it."

"Your pleasure." The half-French playfully bowed, and with a smile on their face, they walked over to the dount shop together.

* * *

While Keigo and Haru were waiting in line for some dount, the Phantom Thieves arrived at the SUN ROAD as well. They are widening their mouths in awe at the number of people and the scale of the district.

"Dude!" Ryuji exclaimed in awe, eyes darting around like a little kid. "This place looks awesome!"

Morgana poked his head out with an unimpressed face. "Calm down! You're making a scene for us."

Ann just giggled at his word of awe, playfully nudged his shoulder. "You look like a kid."

"Oh c'mon, don't tell me you two are not interested in this place too." The ex-runner deadpanned, shifting his glance at Yusuke behind him. "Yusuke, you agree with me, right?"

"Indeed." Yusuke agreed with a nod, framing the whole district with his fingers. "The architect of this district is excellent for a normal shopping district."

"I can't see the difference between them." Hifumi deadpanned.

"I think it's more an artist thing..." Akira murmured, sighing, and adjusted his headphones for the tenth time. "Typical Yusuke..."

Shiho, on the other hand, noticed Ren kept his silence and stared at his phone. "Ren, do you know where that 'Penguin Sniper' place is?" She asked with a raised eye, glancing at his phone's screen.

"Of course." The fuzzy-haired boy replied casually, opening a map app. "It's over there." He said, pointing in front and led everyone to the club.

[Penguin Sniper]

After almost missing the rather small entrance of the club, they finally entered the club. Walking down the stairs, the thieves were greeted with a cozy space with a few Pool tables and a few dart machines on the other side.

Ren walked to the bar table nearby and paid for an hour of darts, coming back to the group with darts in his hand. "Ready for some darts?"

The group nodded and stopped in front of a dart machine, pressing some buttons and readied for a game. "Are we gonna compete against one another?"

Ren pondered for a moment before coming up with an idea. Nodding to himself. "With the size of us, we should go for a team of two."

"A duo battle then." Akira shrugged, stretching his arms. "How are we going to form in duo, Ren?"

The fuzzy-haired boy took out his phone and opened an app, showing a lucky wheel on its screen. "I got this app on the store a while ago."

"That's overly convenient." Hifumi deadpanned.

"It's just a coincidence."

"It's too good for a coincidence, Ren," Akira added.

Sighing, Ren changed the setting, and the wheel turned into six columns of three colors. "Anyway, there are seven people here," He announced, extending his hand to the middle of everyone. "Just spin the wheel and let it decide your fate, I'm just going to watch for now."

"We'll have two darts for each person in a team, when everyone has thrown their darts, it counts as a round." He continued. "We'll do this for three rounds, the team which got the most point of that wins that round."

"And the team who win two round wins."

The thieves awkwardly glanced at each other for a moment before Ann walked out and spun the wheel. "Red." She said.

Then Yusuke followed her. "White."

And next is Shiho. "Oh, I'm red too!" She beamed, turning around and high-fived with the model.

"Nice Shiho!" Ann giggled in excitement. "We're going to win, for sure!"

Hifumi watched with an everyday look and sighed, spinning the lucky wheel on his phone. "Black." She stated, perking up and darted between Ryuji and Akira before ending on Akira.

"Please be my partner." She mouthed.

Akira just sighed and spun the wheel, smiling and gave the Shogi player a thumbs up as the wheel landed on black as well. "I got you, Hifumi." He smiled.

Ren put the phone in his pocket and shrugged at his best friend. "I think you're with Yusuke, Ryuji."

Ryuji and Yusuke glanced at each other for a moment, before the ex-runner sighed and crossed his arms. "We're so effed." He murmured.

Morgana climbed out from the fuzzy-haired boy's shoulder bag, sitting down on his shoulder. "Ren, you can just battle with them all."

"I know," Ren smirked lightly, leaning his head to the cat. "I just don't want them to get destroyed."

"Don't be so cocky." The feline smirked in return, turning his attention back to the others.

"So... who goes first?" Akira asked, raising his hand and looked around.

Without any hesitation, Shiho came forward and took a dart. "I'll do it first." She said, aiming with an eye closed. After a few seconds of concentration, she threw the dart and landed on a double ring in column 18.

"36, not bad," She smiled, giving Ann a thumbs up before turning back to the board. Throwing the dart again, and this time it landed on the single section of 6.

"6..." The volleyball player sighed and turned around, raising her hand for Ann. "I'm counting on you." She said with a faint smile.

"Got it!" Ann beamed and high-fived with her, pulling the two darts on the board and aimed. She threw the darts and landed on the single area of 12 and 14.

"66..." Shiho sighed and facepalmed at the result on the screen. "Seriously?"

"I'm sorry..."

"Well, it does ease us a bit," Akira commented, giving Hifumi a smile of reassurance. "Let me handle it."

"I'm not that bad on darts, just never played them before."

"We'll see." The persudo-detective shrugged, taking the darts from Ann's hand, throwing them with a quickly aiming. The darts flew past the air and landed on the triple ring of 14 and 11.

"75." Turning around, Akira winked at Ann and Shiho before pulling the darts out, giving them to Hifumi. "I got a safety net for you, don't worry."

Ann was dumbfounded from his performance, glancing uncertainly at her partner. "...Let's hope Ryuji and Yusuke are going to be worse than us..."

Shiho, on the other hand, was impressed by his skills. 'He didn't tell me about this...' She thought.

Hifumi took the darts from his hand and threw it too, landing on the single area of 2 and the double ring of 9. "20... I'm not really good at dart..."

"But we almost cross over one hundred points, so it's fine," Akira said reassuringly, turning around toward Ryuji and Yusuke. "I'm rooting for both of you."

The two boys glanced at each other for a moment, and Ryuji sighed in frustration. "We're really, really effed."

"I had stopped caring for victory since the very beginning." Yusuke plainly stated.

* * *

The game went on as expected and down to a final round between Ann's duo and Akira's duo. Resetting the points, they readied the dart, and Akira decided to let Shiho go first.

Walking up and aiming the dart, Shiho looked back at her boyfriend with a confident smile. "We're going to beat you, for sure."

"I'm looking forward to it." Akira shrugged.

"We'll see~."

With that said, the volleyball player turned back to the board and aimed again. However, the voice of Keigo and Haru suddenly came from the stairs, interrupting everyone.

_"Keigo-Kun, what is this place?"_

_"I think it's a club with some good drinks and dart or something like that." _

_"Oh, that sounds interesting, but aren't we just had some drinks in a jazz club?"_

_"That club doesn't have any games."_

_"You're right..."_

_"Anyway, we're here now-"_

Keigo stopped in mid-sentence, widening his eyes in shock as he saw the thieves' appearance, mirroring his look of disbelief.

"So that's the 'something urgent' you're talking about..." Ren murmured to himself.

"Dude..." Ryuji trailed off, still in shock for what's happening in front of his eyes.

"Isn't that Okumura-Senpai?" Ann whispered, leaning her head toward Akira.

He nodded in response. "Keigo, I've been curious about your relationship with Okumura-Senpai, since that one time in Big Bang Burger." The persudo-detective said. "But now, you're adding another layer of mystery on top."

Yusuke and Hifumi just glanced at each other for a moment, not knowing what's exactly going on and just went on with the flow.

"Uh..." Haru's cheek slightly reddened from embarrassment, leaning her head to Keigo's ear. "Are these your friends, other than Ichijou and Suzui?"

Keigo just awkwardly laughed in response. "Y-yeah." He replied.

He hesitantly raised his hand and waved at everyone. "H-hi."

The group just facepalmed in unison.

Ren sighed. "This is gonna be awkward..."

* * *

And with that, chapter 26 of P5: Another Thief concludes! Thank you for reading!

So uh... sorry for the delay again, it's been a hectic week for me, and I am also doing a rewrite of chapter 25 simultaneously. But it's my fault that chapter 25 had a fundamental mistake.

Anyway, the next chapter will finish the group's trip to Kichijoji and jumped to Madarame's confession. It's been a few chapters of nothing.

Review response:

**RosyMiranto18: First about AN being too long or not... Actually, I'm OK with the length now, and maybe I should find a way to shorten the response.**

**For the supposed to be in school... it's a mistake on my part, and I've done a partial rewrite of that chapter, and added some new scenes(Mostly to fit with the fact that they have school). **

**As for why Akira thinks Shiho's not interested in video games, I did add some dialogue to explain that point. And Akira did reside at Yongen-Jaya. He had dinner in Leblanc in the early chapter and was already one of Takemi's guinea pigs as mentioned in chapter 5.**

**And the movie, the actor who played Kazuto was... some actor, but you can make a name for him :).**

**About the lemon... Uh... That's a good question. I never planned any lemon scene FOR NOW, but who knows? **

**I put this fic as M, and I need to utilize it...**

Well, I hope everyone would enjoy this story so far, reviews are welcome!


	27. Chapter 27: progression

"This is gonna be awkward..." Ren murmured, taking off his glasses to pinch his nosebridge.

The group fell into an uncomfortable silence for a while, until Haru broke it with a nervous smile. "Uh... Keigo-Kun, did you refused them for a day out with me?" She asked, giving the half-French an uncertain look.

Keigo sweatdropped, not sure of whether being honest to her or just found an excuse. "U-uh..."

However, before Keigo could even start to answer, everyone else just nodded in unison. "Yeah, he did just that." The fuzzy-haired boy said, taking a sip of his water.

"And he did it for you too," Akira added, raising an eye with a smirk at him. "Am I right, Keigo?"

"Uh..." The half-French glanced between his teammates and Haru, before sighing and nodding to the both of them. "W-well, I kinda did this for her..."

"Bro, just admit it." Ryuji deadpanned.

"I don't see a 'kinda' in this," Shiho commented, putting the darts back on the table.

"Totally agree." Ann shrugged.

Yusuke, on the other hand, noticed heavily blushing Haru and turned back to the thieves. "Everyone, I think we just forgot someone else here."

"Oh right," Hifumi said. "There's someone else here, everyone."

Seeing that everyone finally noted her, Haru awkwardly cleared her throat and tapped Keigo's shoulder. "Keigo-Kun, did you just refuse them... for me?"

Knowing that he's stuck in a corner, the half-French nodded. "Well, y-yeah..."

With that said, an awkward sense of silence fell upon them. Neither the duo or thieves had anything to fill this void, letting the silence continue until Ryuji finally broke it.

"You two are dating, right?"

"No," The duo replied in unison, shifting their shoulder in discomfort.

"Uh... It is our second time going out," Keigo explained. "And we're only friends."

Akira and Shiho only glanced at each other, noting the striking similarity between them. On the other hand, Everyone else just gave them a disapproval look.

"You're telling the truth?" Ren asked, raising an eye in doubt. "Because it didn't seems like it."

Before Keigo could open his mouth and answer, Haru stepped up and answered for him. "Yes, we are just friends."

The thieves looked at each other for a few seconds before shrugged. "Well, let just forget about it," Akira announced, stepping up and standing between them and the duo. "Let Okumura-Senpai join. We are coming to have some fun and kill some time, right?"

Haru was dumbfounded from his sudden offer, not sure of what to say for a moment. "U-uh... If you feel forced to let me join, I can leave-"

"We don't feel forced to let you join." Ren interrupted her. "After all, more people equal more fun."

"And the girls are lacking in number here," Ann beamed, walking up and grabbed her arm. "C'mon, we're in the middle of a dart game."

"And now with Keigo and Haru joined in, maybe we can restart the game?" Hifumi questioned, tilting her head thoughtfully.

"I'm in for that," Ryuji said, raising an arm. "Yusuke and I suck in darts."

Seeing the nod of agreement from everyone, Ren nodded and tapped his head thoughtfully. "Hmm... Maybe we can have another duo battle..."

Sighing, he took out his phone again and opened the app. "Here."

"But there are only four columns here," Yusuke stated, rubbing his chin. "And why number this time?"

"I know." The fuzzy-haired boy nodded, handing his phone out to the girls. "Girls, just spin the wheel to decided the order of choosing your partner."

The girls widened their eyes in shock, and Shiho took the phone from him. "So this is WHY you downloaded this app, right?" She asked.

"I won't answer this." Ren shrugged with a cat-like smirk, brushing his hand through Morgana's fur.

"I hate you." Ryuji and Akira said unison, deadpanning and crossing their arms.

With an uncertain glance, the girls spun the wheel, and a new game of darts started. Haru got the first place to choose and instantly chose Keigo as her partner. Hifumi got the next place and chose Yusuke.

Shiho then got the third place and chose Akira without a second thought. And Ann was left to partner with Ryuji.

The game went on, and time the day passed with laughter and giggles.

* * *

[Evening, SUN ROAD]

After the whole afternoon of the dart game, the group left Penguin Sniper and called it a day. "I'll escort Haru back to her home," Keigo said, giving everyone a wave before leaving with Haru.

Waving back to the duo, the group turned back to each other after seeing them left. "So, I think we should just get on our way," Ren announced, shifting the shoulder bag of his. "Sojiro is waiting for me to close Leblanc for him."

"Mom's waiting for me too," Ryuji said, walking back toward the station. "Bye guys!"

"Mother is preparing for the press conference too." Hifumi murmured to herself, sighing and waving goodbye while walking to the station too.

Seeing that there's no other reason to stay here, Ann and Yusuke also left for home as well, leaving only Shiho and Akira on the street. Once the duo saw there's only them left, they winked at each other and intertwined their fingers.

"It's hard to hold the urge to kiss you, you know." Akira jokingly said, giving Shiho a peck on her lips.

With a faint frown, Shiho fliped his forehead. "I don't think we should disclose our relationship now, remember?"

"Other than that, we've only started for a day..."

"I remember that." The persudo-detective said. "But I still want to tell everyone you're mine."

"Me too, Aki-Chan." The volleyball player giggled, tightening her grip on his hand and led him to somewhere else. "Now, let's just enjoy our time as a couple."

"As you wish, my Swan."

She giggled at his joke, looking at somewhere else to think of some way to return that. "Ahh, how cute. My~ little~ Jester~."

"Can't beat that." Akira smiled, giving her another kiss.

* * *

[30th May, Afterschool]

The end of Madarame's exhibition was drawing near. The Phantom Thieves were now waiting for his confession. This, with Mitsuyo's press conference, which happened to be on the same day as the final day of the exhibition, only caused the Persona users' nervousness to skyrocket. And the fact that Makoto was investigating them, only to worsen the feeling.

Once the bell rang, signaling the end of today, Akira got a text message from a person he never expected. Makoto.

**Makoto: It's Makoto Nijima. I got your number from Kawakami-sensei.**

**Makoto: Ichijou, can you meet me at the student union room?**

Even though shocked by her sudden message, Akira quickly tapped on the virtual keyboard and replied.

**Akira: Uh... You can ask me for my number, no need for bothering Kawakami-sensei.**

**Akira: But anyway, I'll be here in five minutes.**

**Akira: At most, I think.**

Once he replied to Makoto, the persudo-detective tapped Ren's shoulder and gained his attention. "Nijima just texted me, and I'm going to meet her." He said.

Ren nodded. "Try to be not suspicious. After all, we need to know what she's planning."

"Got it."

With that said, Akira quickly ran out of the classroom and up the stairs to the student union room.

"Nijima-Senpai? May I come in?" He asked politely, knocking on the room's door. "It's Ichijou."

Without any delay, the voice of Makoto rang from the room. "Oh, you may."

Nodding to himself, the persudo-detective opened the door. Makoto was sitting on one side of the table, packing a pile of paper with a whiteboard behind her.

"A whiteboard, huh," Akira commented, putting down his shoulder bag on a seat and sat down opposite of her. "So, where do we start on our investigation?"

"Straight to the point, good." The president said with a faint smirk, giving him a piece of paper with Ren's photo on it. "Actually, I already had a suspect for 'The Phantom Thief.'"

"Ren Amamiya."

Akira was shocked at her pace of finding the suspect, never expected for her to have a suspect already. 'She's more concerning than I thought...' He thought, but remember that he needs to be not suspicious, he only raised an eye in curiosity.

"Hmm... Interesting, but why did you choose him as the suspect?"

"Everything happened after his arrival to Shujin." She explained. "Half a day late for the first day, friends with Sakamoto and Takamaki... the two other outcasts of Shujin."

'Come to think of it, it's self-evident...' the persudo-detective thought, rubbing his thoughtfully as Makoto continued.

"Not only that, if there's someone who would have reasons to after Kamoshida-Sensei, it'll be them." She finished, staring at him with a curious look. "Or you, Ichijou."

'Great, she's already suspicious on me.' He thought, trying his best to act calm and not panic. "Well, my hatred on that scum is pretty obvious."

"You knew what he's done to the team, didn't you?"

Taken back by his question, Makoto widened her eyes before quickly calmed herself. "Y-yes." She answered, barely loud enough for Akira to hear and hung her head down in shame. "Believe it or not, I did try to report Kamoshida-Sensei's doing to the principal..."

"But he just swept it under the rug and carried on, right?" Akira finished for her, crossing his arms and leaned into his seat. "Back when he's still around, I questioned some volleyball team members to gather some evidence..." He trailed off, taking his notebook out from his shoulder bag.

"Unfortunately, their answer was either outright disapproval of my claim." The persudo-detective continued, turning to the page of volleyball team member's confession. "However, some of them gave me this answer."

He put the notebook onto the table and gave it to her. "I didn't modify those words, every single one of them is real."

Makoto took the notebook and read the lines, widening her eyes in disbelief and shock. "No way... Even their parents allowed it..."

"After all, Kamoshida won an Olympic medal."

Putting down the notebook and gave it back, the president took a few moments to organize her mind. "B-but, how did all of these link to the Phantom Thief?"

"They did the impossible," Akira answered. "I know there are rumors about Ren and Ryuji blackmailing him into confessing. But with everyone covering his track, he can brush it off and expelled them."

"You're right..."

"I don't know who is the Phantom Thief, but they did this to save us." The persudo-detective paused, biting his lips as he has to remember the event happened on those two days. "If they didn't change his heart... God knows what'll happen to Shiho."

"She almost committed suicide..." Makoto murmured, tugging her hair aside with a shaking hand. "Ichijou, why did you said these things to me?"

"Because the Phantom Thief saved us from him," Akira explained. "And many more."

"O-ok..." The president said, hesitantly nodding. "But I still need to find out who is the Phantom Thief... And since you're friends with Amamiya, I hope you can get some information from him."

"I won't promise any real information, but I'll try my best." He said, taking the paper and put it into his shoulder bag.

"And I have nothing else to add," Makoto said. "You can leave now."

The persudo-detective stood up and gave her a bow, leaving the room and took out his phone to tell everyone what'd been going on.

**Akira: Just back from a meeting with Nijima-Senpai.**

**Ren: What did she say?**

**Keigo: Wait, why are you having a meeting with Nijima?**

**Ann: She's investigating us.**

**Keigo: Wait; what?!**

**Shiho: From what Akira told us, she's been investigating since Kamoshida's confession.**

**Akira: Anyway, she had a suspect already. **

**Akira: And it's you, Ren.**

**Ren: Oh, great.**

**Ryuji: How did she guess it this fast?!**

**Akira: Come to think of it, it's rather apparent.**

**Akira: Everything happens after Ren got transferred here, and he's a friend with you and Ann, the two biggest Kamoshida hater.**

**Ann: You're right... It's self-evident.**

**Shiho: Did Nijima-Senpai also said something about you and me?**

**Akira: No, she didn't.**

**Akira: Anyway, I'm going to ask Ren for some information. She told me to do it.**

**Akira: Any answer I can use?**

**Ren: Just say 'I'm sorry, I can't found any information from him.'**

**Akira: Hmm... Maybe.**

**Keigo: Wait, where's Yusuke and Hifumi?**

**Ren: Hifumi is probably helping her mother for the press conference.**

**Ren: As for Yusuke... No idea.**

**Shiho: Just leave them be. After all, the confessions are coming up.**

**Ann: Right, about them... When is the end of Madarame's exhibition?**

**Ryuji: June 5th, I remembered that clearly.**

**Akira: So, only six days away...**

**Keigo: Actually, are you sure that Madarame's going to confess?**

**Ren: No, not 100%.**

**Shiho: We only did one heist before them.**

**Akira: However, from what happened to Hifumi's mom... I'm about 95% certain it's going to be alright.**

**Ren: Yeah, have faith in them.**

* * *

[June 5th, Shibuya]

A few days passed with nothing happened, with that fact that Mitsuyo's case of a successful heist, the thieves are mostly relaxed for what's coming. Yusuke was regularly informing them about her Madarame's situation, saying that he's locking himself in his room, not letting anyone in except for food.

However, they never expected how the corrupted artist reacts to his guilt.

"What's up with that old geezer?" A male pedestrian asked casually as the crowd stared up at Shibuya 109 screen.

On the huge screen was Madarame, sitting at an announcement table surrounded by cameras and microphones. Instead of his usual calm and kind attitude, or the cocky and disgusting attitude of his shadow, he was drowning in tears.

"_I... I have committed crimes that are unbecoming of an artist._" He began, his voice broadcast all over the city, and even more. "_Plainly put...I, um... plagiarized work... I-I tainted this... this country's art world... and... even 'Sayuri'...!_"

Clenching his eyes, more tears streamed down on his face in guilt and shame. "_H-How could I... I possibly... apologize to- to everyone for..._" He sobbed. "_For what I've done... Aaaah...!_"

_"I am truly sorry!"_

On the street of Shibuya, Kasumi, Rei, Asuka, and Shinji were staring at the screen with curiosity. "What happened to him?" Rei asked.

"He just confesses that he had been plagiarizing his pupil's work..." Asuka trailed off, pulling out her phone. "And the news is all about it."

"Hey guys, don't it seems familiar?" Shinji said, grabbing the group's attention. "It just likes how that Kamoshida guy confesses..."

"_...And that was from the urgent apology conference by Madarame that took place just a moment ago._" The newscaster informed once the channel changed visual feeds, shuffling his papers. "_After reporting to the association, Madarame has agreed to the police's request to turn himself in._"

"_Another famous figure of the art world- Chidori Yoshino has also helped the former apprentices to reclaim their works. 'It's unbelievable that something like this happened.' She commented._"

Kasumi nodded. "Yeah, now that you brought it up..."

"What happened to that Kamoshida?" Rei asked, tilting her head in confusion. "I only heard some rumors that someone called 'Phantom Thief' did something, and he confessed..."

"He basically confessed that he's been abusing the volleyball team's member and sexually harassed the female member," Shinji explained, sighing and shifted his focus from the screen to her. "It's lucky that we got into Shujin after all those things happened."

"If that creep dares to come close to me, I'll personally beat him up," Asuka commented with a dark look, causing Kasumi to take a step away from her.

"It's scary..." The crimson-haired girl murmured.

"Asuka, please don't scare Kasumi away..." Shinji whispered.

The German redhead quickly snapped back to reality. "O-oh, I'm sorry." She apologized.

Before anyone else can say anything, the voice of the newscaster grabbed their attention again.

"_Also, a group calling themselves 'The Phantom' posted a dubious note at Madarame's exhibit. The police will investigate their relation to this case, but for now, did not identify them as suspects._"

_"Not only that, but mother of the famous Shogi player Mitsuyo Togo had also held an apology conference today. She confessed to fixing matches in the national Shogi competition. Here's the footage."_

The screen changed from the newscaster to another conference. Cameras and microphones once again surrounded Mitsuyo. The cameras flashed as she stood up to bow in apology.

_"I have been fixing matches to let Hifumi win, and verbally abused her..." _She confessed, tears dripping down her cheek. _"I am a horrible mother, only using my daughter as a tool for money. And venting my grief from my husband's death on her..."_

_"I am truly sorry..."_ She raised her head, wiping the tears. _"For now on until Hifumi finishes her high school, she will stop all of her work aside from a student. __But if there is any hate, please don't project them onto her, I am asking as a mother."_

The screen once again changed back to the newscaster, another photo of the calling sent to her appeared on the background. "_Other of that, another note of 'The Phantom' and another group called 'Le Fool' was also found._"

"The Phantom Thieves..." Kasumi trailed off, furrowing her brow. "So it's their doing..."

"But from what they said, it seems the thieves are doing for the goods," Shinji commented, glancing at his companions with a raised eye. "Agree?"

"Yeah, kind of." Asuka and Rei answered in unison, but the crimson-haired girl pondered for a moment before shaking her head.

"Maybe their intentions were good, but they have the power to change someone's heart literally." She explained, looking down at her feet. "What if they just abuse this power?"

"You're right..." Rei trailed off, looking somewhere else thoughtfully. "But, we'll see."

On the other hand, a teen in a blue diamond-patterned vest stared at the screen, idly brushing some of his light brown hair out of his face. "Phantom Thieves, huh..." He murmured, walking away without a word.

"Phantom Thieves again..." Makoto whispered to herself, furrowing her brow. She paused, and the words of Akira rang inside of his mind.

_'the Phantom Thief saved us from him...'_

She grimaced, conflicted, before walking away to complete her errands. In the back of her mind, she wondered if they were really as just as they said they were...

* * *

[Phantom Thieves' hideout]

The thieves met up at their spot in the bridges, watching the news through the large window panes on the bridge. "You guys see the news about Madarame?!" Ryuji exclaimed in excitement, crouching on the ground. "It's just like what happened with Kamoshida!"

Ann nodded with a grin. "And they mentioned the Phantom Thieves!"

"And I have to deal with the problem that we're becoming more known in public," Akira sighed. "Makoto's investigating us, remember."

The ex-runner just laughed and put his around Akira's shoulder. "C'mon, let us enjoy this moment." He said with a bright smile. "Man, this is startin' to get interesting...If we do it right, we can change people's hearts."

"With this power... We might be able to do more than just gettin' back at society. It'll be a big deal!"

"This'll be fun." Ren nodded, smiling faintly.

Ryuji grinned at his friends. "Let's keep pushin' on then! As for me, I hope we just keep gettin' more and more famous!"

Keigo deadpanned. "We're not doing this for fame."

"Please, don't let the fame get to you..." Hifumi said, rolling her eyes.

Squeezing his face out from the bag, Morgana stepped on Ren's shoulder. "Something like this happening twice is massive too. It's too great a coincidence to occur normally."

"If we continue doing this, we'll definitely be able to give courage to everyone who needs it." Ann smiled brightly, twirling her ponytail.

"Inspiring people to stand up for themselves... That's awesome." Shiho smiled.

Glancing out of the corner of his eye, Yusuke held up a finger in front of his mouth. "...We may want to quiet down a little." He warned.

The group looked up and tensed when they saw two officers stood nearby through the crowd of pedestrians in the station, talking to one another. Ann blinked. "Do you know them?"

Ryuji glared at her. "You moron!" He hissed. "Those're attendance officers!"

"Hello there." The officer walked up to them with a polite nod. "May I speak with you all for a moment?"

"O-Oh, yeah!" Akira answered, trying his best to act normal. "Of course."

"What are you all doing here?" The officer asked casually. "Are you friends?"

"We wanted some coffee..." Ren nodded hesitantly.

"Hm, is that so? And how would you do that in a place like this?" The other officer asked skeptically

"We planned to meet up here and go to Jongen-Jaya," Akira explained. "There's a nice cafe around there. I think it's called Leblanc."

The officer nodded, appeased with their reasoning. "All right. Just make sure you disperse before it gets too late, OK? Lately, there have been some odd occurrences, and the news about that artist and that woman earlier caused quite the stir."

Ann smiled angelically. "We'll be careful!"

The officers turned and walked away, and the thieves grouped closer to avoid any eavesdroppers. "That was close..." The persudo-detective sighed in relief.

"It's still light out..." Ryuji kicked the floor with a grumble. "Man, those guys must have way too much time on their hands."

Jumping out of the shoulder bag, Morgana curled up around his owner's shoulder. "...From now on, we'll need to be even more cautious than before." He stated grimly. "Look at us! Right after the second Thieves incident, both prior victims are meeting up."

"Wait, you mean people might be listening to us...?" Ann frowned.

"Eh, it'll be fine. Look around." Ryuji shrugged, gesturing to the busy passageway. "We're the only people worryin' about it."

She pursed her lips. "I guess you're right..."

"By the way, Yusuke..." Ryuji turned to the artist. "You able to get anything out of Madarame? Remember how he was talkin' about that suspicious person in the black mask?"

"Well...I pressed him for answers, but he doesn't even understand what happened to him to begin with." Yusuke answered, shaking his head.

"It's not like he actually saw his desires get stolen, after all," Ann said, crossing her arms.

"It's likely that he may be sent to prison. In that case, gaining information will be difficult..." The young artist murmured, nodding and leaned against the railing.

"So, what're you gonna do now?" Shiho asked, tilting her head.

"I'll be leaving that house." He announced firmly, straightening up from the railing. "I can't draw in such a place anymore. Not after confronting the ugly truth within its walls."

"But you don't anywhere to go..." Keigo said, furrowing his brow.

"I still have the school dorms. I can stay there free of charge thanks to my fine-arts scholarship."

"A scholarship?!" Ryuji yelped, staring at him with wide eyes. "Wait, you're that good...?"

Shaking his head, he quickly snapped out from shock. "Anyway, it'll probably take some time findin' a target as big as Madarame."

"Well," Ann rested a hand on her hip. "We should just act like normal students while we look for our next target, OK?"

Akira nodded, turning to Ryuji. "And please, don't spill the bean, Ryuji."

"Wha- Why?!"

"You're the loudest out of us, you know," Morgana said with a smirk.

"Oh c'mon!"

Shiho quickly interrupted the argument between them, changing the subject. "Anyway, we can finally have that spa trip, right?"

The model grinned. "Oh yeah!"

They chatted as they picked up their bags and left the passageway, not noticing a pair of red eyes following after them. "Kitagawa Yusuke..." Makoto murmured, noting the appearance of Akira.

"I'm counting on you, Ichijou..."

* * *

And with that, chapter 27 of P5: Another Thief concludes! Thank you for reading!

The second arc finished, and the plot finally moved forward! And with Makoto's role becoming more important, leading to her joining the Phantom Thieves!

Review response:

**RosyMiranto18: Where do I start... Um... ****About Kasumi, it's kinda weird to not mention her at all until this point. After all, from the canon, she's transferred around the same day as Ren, there's no way that no one talked about her. So I did some retcon on that, but... Maybe she's getting Cendrillon...**

**Seta Souji... actually, I did read I don't belong here... And this is some A-class idea XD.**

**As for the January arc, I got spoilered a while ago(Not by you), but I'm now 50/50 on whether covering it or not. After all, a certain someone isn't here to cause the arc, but maybe I'll do another retcon to include it.**

**After all, we just finished Madrame's arc, and there's still a lot of time before we cover there.**

**Keigo didn't mention where he's going nor where he is... So they can't just stalk him. And I think Ren just randomly type 'fun club with darts and pools' and found Penguin Sniper.**

**Speaking of which, Ryuji mentioned that he had a crush on Ann. (Ryuji and Ren did 'the talk' at chapter 16)**

**And Kichijoji SUN ROAD, which was featured in Royal itself is in fact, a shopping district.**

**Aside from his third eyes, Ren also had been making infiltration tools at night... Proficiency is crucial for him to dodge that chalk, and be a natural pro in dart XD. (And he ignored the calling to sleep by Morgana as a result.)**

**For Haru... I did also read Vanishing Act, and what an awesome fic! Haru can join early, and the team split to deal with two palaces at once. **

**And Shido has to find another way to crush their reputation. No stand user is helping you this time mate.**

**Anyway, looking forward to reading your review!**

I hope you guys like the story so far, review are welcome!


	28. Chapter 28: Intermission 2

[5th June, SIU director's office]

_"...The suspect has repeatedly testified that he does not have any recollection of his actions."_ The newscaster said through the TV stand in the office. _"A full psychiatric evaluation will be performed to further investigate the crime's details and motives."_

Two people were watching TV with a frowned brow. One was a young woman with long ashen brown hair asymmetrically parted on her right side and brown eyes, similar to Makoto's, and the other is a balding man with a pair of glasses, resting his head on the back of his hands.

The young woman turned around to face the man. "First Kamishida at Shujin Academy, and now Madarame and Mitsuyo..." She started with a professional tone, but the frown on her face showed a hint of frustration. "I've found a number of points of commonality between the three."

"For example, they were sent a 'calling card' before their unforeseen changes of heart."

The man nodded. "...I see." He said. "But isn't tying their cases to the series of psychotic breakdowns jumping to conclusions?"

"Furthermore, the police will frown upon you stepping into this..."

"Now isn't the time to worrying about things like jurisdiction and honor...!" She retorted, holding a hand on her chest. "We need to dig deeper and find a correlation among the incidents these past two, three years. This time two individuals got a change of heart at the same time, who knows what'll happen next."

The man sighed. "Very well, I leave it up to you. However, you must not let this interfere with your regular duties."

The woman gave him a formal bow in return. "Thank you, sir." With that said, she left the room without another word, leaving the man alone.

Once the door had closed, the man groaned in annoyance, staring at the TV with frustration. "That damn woman just had to stick her nose into this...!" He murmured to himself, shaking his head. "And now, with Mitsuyo Togo's change of heart, Shido's not going to be happy about this..."

"'The Phantom' and 'Le Fool'... You two are giving us a bigger headache than we expected..."

* * *

[Evening, Leblanc]

Sojiro was finishing another cigarette and alone in the cafe when the doorbell suddenly rang, revealing Ren coming back.

"I heard customers say it's gotten pretty dangerous over there. Don't let yourself be a target, got it?" He said plaining, which Ren just nodded in response.

Seeing a nod from him, the cafe's owner looking away from him back to the TV. And the fuzzy-haired boy's phone suddenly buzzed, signaling a message from the PT group chat.

**Yusuke: You have my gratitude.**

**Ryuji: What're you so polite for all of a sudden?**

**Hifumi: Actually, I wanted to thank you all too. But I'll let Yusuke speak first.**

**Ryuji: You too?**

**Yusuke: I truly am thankful you for making me come to my senses.**

**Ren: You're exaggerating.**

**Akira: Yeah, I'm with Ren here.**

**Yusuke: I most certainly am not. I must express my gratitude earnestly.**

**Ryuji: You're one of us now, man. We'll be countin' on you, mkay?**

**Akira: Well, I'm with Ryuji. We're counting on you, Yusuke.**

**Yusuke: Of course.**

**Ann: And if anything comes up, we won't hesitate to lend a hand.**

**Shiho: We'll be by your side!**

**Keigo: Me too :)**

**Yusuke: Thank you.**

**Yusuke: Well, then, see you.**

**Hifumi: Wait, you forgot about me, Yusuke.**

**Yusuke: Oh. I am sorry.**

**Hifumi: It's okay, but I also want to thank you all for saving my mother. Now she's back to her old self. We can start to rebuild our bond, one step at a time.**

**Akira: That's fantastic!**

**Ryuji: But Madarame's sudden conference just took all the attention of your mom, not even a single news report on her when she has the meeting...**

**Hifumi: I know, but mother didn't mind that. She just wants to let people know the truth and apologize. Maybe not much of the news around mother is actually a good thing.**

**Ren: Well, good on both of you, Hifumi, Yusuke.**

**Hifumi: I know. Well, see you later.**

And with that, Ren closed the phone and put it back to his pocket. "Well, there were a lot of ups and downs, but we still pulled off our first job!" Morgana said, poking his head out and gave his owner a grin. "Yusuke joined the team too, so let's continue reforming society like this!"

"Yeah." Ren nodded, pulling his phone again and saw a message from Yoshida, a politician who Ren was helping while he gave his speech to the pedestrians. He answered the messages and went to Shibuya again.

* * *

On the other hand, Akira was entering his apartment when his phone suddenly buzzed, catching him by surprise. He took out the phone and checked. It was a phone call from Mitsuru herself.

Accepting the call, Akira put the speaking next to his ears as he sat down on to the couch. "Mitsuru-San?"

"Hey, Akira." The head of Kirijo Group's voice rang from the other side of the line, a sense of genuine was noticeable in her tone. "I just wanted to call you to see if you're fine."

"Just to see if I'm fine?" The persudo-detective asked, raising an eyebrow and smirked. "You've heard the news, right?"

"Of course, about the 'The Phantom' and 'Le Fool.'" Mitsuru answered with a hint of amusement. "I should not have let Shirogane teach you some detective skills..."

"Too late." Akira joked, earning a chuckle from her.

"I know," She said. "But from the report from Kamisaki, another Persona user is roaming in Metaverse..."

"Right, the 'Black Mask.'"

Mitsuru sighed. "You're getting into something much more than we've imagined. Please, be careful."

"I'll take care of or myself and the others," Akira paused. "Especially Shiho."

"Shiho? You mean Suzui, right?"

"Yeah..." The persudo-detective trailed off, deciding whether to disclose the truth to her or not. "Actually, I have something to ask you, Mitsuru-San."

"Oh?" Mitsuru asked, drinking her coffee and readied for anything. "That's rare."

"Do you have any advice to hide your relationship in a group of friends?" He asked, putting the phones a bit away as the sound of heavy coughs rang from the other side.

"W-wait, what?"

"Uh... Mitsuru-San, I remembered you used to secretly dating with Akihiko-San, right?" Akira continued, the silence from the other side only formed a picture of her blushing in his mind. "I just wanna know how did you two manage to do that-"

"We never dated." The head of Kirijo Group said plainly. "And I don't have any advice to help you."

"What's with the sudden change in tone..."

"It's nothing. Just be careful, OK?" She hastily said, sounding like that she's finding an excuse to cut the call as soon as possible. "And if you want to have any advice, just ask someone like Iori or Yukari."

With that said, Mitsuru cut the call before Akira can even say another word. Putting down her phone on the table, she dropped her head on it with a 'thud.'

"Kirijo-Sama, you're OK?" Hearing the loud 'thud' from the private room, Mitsuru's childhood friend and personal maid- Kikuno Saikawa rushed in with a concerned face. "I just heard a loud thud..." She trailed off, deadpanning at her master's uncharismatic action.

(Sidenote: Kikuno Saukawa is a canon character, she appeared in Persona 4 Arena and Ultimax.)

Mitsuru grunted in frustration and embarrassment, still refuse to get her head away from the table. "Who told Akira that I'm dating Akihiko?" She asked out loud, earning a raised eye from Kikuno.

"Mitsuru, you never told anyone about that, right?"

"Of course," The head of Kirijo Group nodded. "You are the only one who knows about my relationship with Akihiko."

"Well, now we can add Akira to the list," The personal maid sighed, helping Mitsuru to sit up from the table. "Maybe he noticed the hint between you two, or just figured it out on his own."

"If that's the case..." Mitsuru sighed, hiding her face in her palms. "Why did I let him learn how to be a detective..."

"Don't worry, he's not going to spread this information out," Kikuno shrugged, giving her a reassuring smile.

"Why are you so sure about that?"

"Well, aside from you and SEES, I'm the person who knows him the most," The personal maid replied. "I have faith in him."

"Maybe..." Mitsuru sighed. "Anyway, where's Kamisaki's report?"

"Here," Kikuno said, giving her a file. "I was going to give it to you, but that loud 'thud' interrupt me."

The president lowered her head in awkwardness. "S-sorry..." She murmured, taking the file from her.

Quickly returned to her usual professional tone, Mitsuru opened the file and read it. "...Everything seems to be normal for Akira... Wait." She stopped, re-reading the paragraph with widened eyes.

"In the fight with Mitsuyo Togo's shadow, Akira startled for a few seconds before coming back to reality. Not only that, he rushed in front of Suzui to protect her... as if he foresaw the event..."

Kikuno frowned. "As if he foresaw the event?"

"...That's going to be troublesome..." The president murmured, closing the file and sighed. "If Akira did foresee the event, that means it's influences is increasing..."

"How can you tell, Mitsuru-Sama?"

Mitsuru paused, biting her lips at the memories about her SEES days. "...After the battle with Nyx, Akira had been acting weird around Minato."

"At first, we assume that he noticed the weird tiredness of him..." She continued, closing her eyes for a second. "Until the day of graduation."

_"That... that's just like what I saw..."_

She paused again. "If Kamisaki's hypothesis is correct, then Akira's awakening also awoken it..."

* * *

[6th June, afternoon]

Ever since the two conferences happened and the mention of both 'The Phantom' and 'Le Fool', the two teams became the talk of the whole school. With Kobayakawa pressuring her, Makoto's stress only skyrocketed.

And Akira's report only worsened it.

"What do you mean by 'no information?'" The brunette exclaimed in disbelief and stood up, causing Akira to shirk in fear.

"E-exactly that." He shuttered. "I can't get anything out from him."

Even though she's frustrated at the report, but Makoto could only sigh. "It's fine..." She trailed off, sitting back onto the seat. "I'm planning to get some information out by myself."

"Huh?"

"I don't want to do this, but I'll follow him after school." She said, leaning further into her chair.

"Isn't that stalking?"

"Yes, it is... But I have no other choice left."

"...I'll just leave you be on this one."

"I'm asking you to go with me," Makoto said with a grim expression on her face. "You're Amamiya's friend, he'll notice you in no time."

"But can you help me with locating Amamiya?" She asked. "Like, tell me where is him if I lost his track."

Akira hesitated, divided on whether to agree with her or not. '...I'm dropping into a deeper rabbit hole than I expected...' He thought, sighing before reluctantly nodded. "OK, I'll help you on that front."

[Afterschool]

After the bell rang and signaling the end of school, Ren was about to leave and held a meeting when Akira suddenly sent a text to him. Even though he's right behind him in his seat.

**Akira: Nijima is stalking you for information, don't hold a meeting today.**

Widening his eyes in surprise, the fuzzy-haired boy turned around to face him. However, Akira shook his head in response, sending another text.

**Akira: It'll be suspicious, we'll only talk via text for now.**

Sighing, Ren turned back and left the classroom. "Morgana, watch my back." He whispered, and the feline stumbled and opened a small hole to watch behind him.

"Akira's right, Nijima's following you." He answered. "And... it was... not threatening at all."

Unable to hold his curiosity, Ren peeked around and saw the one Akira warned. Makoto was following him, and she did it... while holding a comic book on her face.

Before Makoto could notice his gaze, the fuzzy-haired boy instantly moved his gaze to somewhere else, trying his best to hold his laughter. "O-oh my god..." He murmured. "Is she doing this to trick me or not?"

"Uh... I don't think so, Ren," Morgana sweatdropped. "This is straight out of a cheesy romantic comic..."

However, as he regained his composure and calmed down, a stupid idea suddenly came up in Ren's mind. "Morgana, I have a really, really stupid idea." He whispered.

"Please don't be what I'm thinking..."

"Maybe that's exactly what I'm thinking." He answered, peeking around his shoulder to see if Makoto is looking at him or not. Fortunately (or unfortunately), Makoto is still hiding behind the book.

Smirking, Ren walked around the school for a few loops. Hearing the frustrated groan and whisper from her, he turned around and faced her in the hallway, casually walking toward his stalker.

Intentional or not, Makoto didn't notice his coming toward her until a finger suddenly appeared on the book. The comic book was pulled down, revealing Ren with a smirk on his face.

"Please, watch the road, miss president," He said, widening his smirk. "I know you're dedicated to studying, but I never thought you're into comics."

Instead of her usual composed and formal response, Makoto opened her mouth but said nothing. "...I-I'm just passing by, don't mind me." She said after moments of silence, avoiding his gaze.

"Oh, passing by." Ren said, emphasizing the word 'passing by.' "I've been looping around for a few minutes by now, but every time I look back, you're behind me."

"I-I..."

"It's fine, I'm not suspicious of you or anything," He reassured her, internally smirking at what he's going to say next. "If you want to ask me out on a date, just say it."

Makoto, on the other hand, was completely shocked at his word. "D-date?!" She squealed, cheeks burning and covered in a shade of crimson. "N-No! I'm not stalking you, or asking you onto a date!"

"I know," Ren's smirk widened. "But you're adorable when you're blushing, it's such a shame that you're still single."

Giggling at her blushing look in response, turning around and left without another word. Leaving the blushing Makoto in the middle of the hallway, still not sure of what to do. 'W-what did he just said?!'

On the other hand, Akira was watching the whole thing played out from around the corner dropped his mouth. Fully in disbelief of what Ren just did.

"You've got to be kidding me..." He trailed off, blinking for a few times before snapping back to reality. "You got to be effin' kidding me!" He exclaimed in disbelief, taking his phone out and texted him.

**Akira: Dude! What the hell are you doing!**

**Ren: What? I'm giving her a little tease.**

**Akira: Oh god, I'm friend with a protagonist straight out a ****harem anime!**

**Ren: Huh?! You're serious?! I only have a crush on Nijima.**

**Akira: Well, that's exactly like how every harem anime plays out!**

**Ren: Don't worry. I'll be fine.**

**Akira: If you say so...**

Sending the final text, the persudo-detective sighed and looked back at Makoto, who still hadn't snapped back to the reality. "Great..."

* * *

[7th June, morning]

Ren was walking toward his classroom when some murmurs from some students aside took his attention. He stopped and overheard them with a raised eye.

"...What's this?" A female student asked, tilting her head at a poster on the wall. "'A request to the student body'...?"

"It says they're looking for information." Another female student answered. "I heard Principal Kobayakawa put it up."

The other female student sighed, shifting her head back to the poster. "' Please consult the student council president if you have any details.'" She read.

A male student frowned at the words on the poster. "So we can go to her for anything?" He asked, gazing at her. "Why the student council president though? What does she have to do with Principal Kobayakawa?"

"I mean, Nijima-San is his favorite. Maybe that's why he asked her to do it."

Seeing that there's nothing more interesting to overhear, Ren sighed and walked away. 'Weird, Nijima won't post something like this...' He thought, rubbing his chin thoughtfully. "What if it's Kobayakawa's own doing?"

"Kobayakawa's own doing?" Morgana asked, raising an eye of his own. "What do you mean?"

"It doesn't like what Nijima'll do," Ren whispered back. "Why would she brought more things to be frustrate about when she already has us to worry about?"

"You mean... Kobayakawa is adding pressure on her?"

"Maybe, but we'll see."

[Afternoon]

Ren, Ann, and Akira were listening to Mr. Inui lessons when their phones suddenly buzzed. Raising an eye and pulled his phone out, Ren found that it's Ryuji.

**Ryuji: Our name did spread a bit thanks to Madarame and Mitsuyo...**

**Ryuji: But I bet people still wouldn't care if we came out and said we're the Phantom Thieves.**

**Ren: I'm not that sure, maybe we can try it some times.**

**Keigo: You serious?**

**Akira: Here he is again...**

**Yusuke: But I must agree with them.**

**Yusuke: What good would come of telling people our identities?**

**Ryuji: Maybe they'd at least start treating us with some respect.**

**Yusuke: Well, I can understand why you feel that way...**

**Ann: That's just how things are now, but if we keep doing stuff like this, that will definitely change.**

**Yusuke: We simply need to devote ourselves to the cause. Our praise will come later.**

**Hifumi: Let's just take it one step at a time.**

**Shiho: I'm on Hifumi's side.**

**Ann: What he said!**

**Ann: I'm sure some people out there will understand.**

**Ryuji: Ugh, I guess we just gotta act like modest heroes for now...**

**Akira: Well, there's no real target.**

With that said, the trio put their phones back into their picket and continued on their lessons.

[Afterschool, student council's room]

The room was empty, two members of the union were sitting on the opposite of the table, a grim expression settled on their faces. And their postures stiffened when the door suddenly opened, and Makoto came in with a frown.

"President..." A male council member asked, matching her frown with his. "What is the meaning of that posting?"

Makoto sighed, punching her chin and closed her eyes. "Principal Kobayakawa put that up without my-"

"We've already received some anonymous information." The female council member said, interrupting the president in mid-sentences. "' I heard some students are getting threatened. I'm so scared... Please do something...'"

"What...?!" Makoto murmured in shock, taken back by the information.

The male member continued. "' They have dirt on me, and they're demanding money. I can't go to the police... What should I do...?'"

"Isn't this talking about the crimes that have been rumored to be occurring in Shibuya...?"

"So there are even victims at our school... What should we do?" The female member added.

"This isn't the responsibility of the student council. This is frightening for us too..." The male member said. "Principal '

Makoto nodded. "Now, I want to talk with you about something else." She sighed, pinching her nosebridge before continuing. "Recently, there's a mafia in Shibuya who's targetting high school students."

Akira only nodded in response, letting her continue.

"The student council has some information..." The brunette sighed again, her head hung low and she bit her lips. "Principal Kobayakawa called you yesterday, right? Did he tell you anything about this?"

Makoto hesitated. "Well, no..." She murmured, remembering the meeting with Kobayakawa before meeting up with Akira.

_"How are things going in regard to that matter we spoke of earlier?" Kobayakawa asked._

_"I..." Makoto trailed off for a moment. "I have nothing to report yet..."_

_The principal frowned in response. " Nothing at all?" He asked, the annoyed undertone was obvious to her. "How many students are there who could provoke a teacher?"_

_"I've already narrowed it down. I just... can't get any solid evidence..."_

_He only groaned in more annoyance._

_Noticing the faces he made, Makoto remembered the word Akira told him earlier and decided to ask him about this. "You knew, didn't you...? about Mr. Kamoshida sexually harassing students."_

_Kobayakawa only looked away in response._

_"Sir!"_

_"What will come of you asking that?"_

_"This investigation is for a just cause, correct?"_

_"I believe I understand how flustered this must be making you." __Deepening his frown, Kobayakawa retorted with a hint of anger. "I'm sure it was truly shocking for you as student council president to see a peer attempt suicide..."_

_"Yes..."_

_"We must provide a school environment where all students can feel at ease." He continued. "That is the most pressing issue we have to tackle at the moment."_

_"So..." Makoto trailed off, narrowing her eye in suspicion. "That's your reason behind this investigation on the Phantom Thieves of Hearts?"_

_"We don't even know if they truly exist. Why are you-"_

_"You heard about the incident with that Madarame fellow, I assume?"_

_"...They said there was a similar calling card to the one used on Mr. Kamoshida's case."_

_"I wish to believe that this is unrelated to our students-"_

"Nijima-Senpai?" The voice of the members suddenly rang into Makoto's ears, snapping her back to reality.

"Is everything OK?" The female member asked. "You looked zoned out for a second."

"I-I'm fine," Makoto said, shaking her head. "Anyway, he's out today, but I will ask him tomorrow. Please wait on this for the time being..."

"If you say so..."

Looking at the downed look from the two, the president sighed. "...My apologies for the confusion."

"Don't worry, I'll do something about all of this..." She trailed off, taking her phone out to give Akira a text.

**Makoto: Ichijou, can you come by to the student council room?**

Fortunately, his response was almost in an instant.

**Akira: Of course.**

**Akira: Is it about that posting Kobayakawa posted?**

**Makoto: No, it's about something else.**

**Makoto: And I don't think there's anyone else to help.**

[A few minutes later]

After the two members had left and Makoto's alone again, Akira came in with a curious look on his face. "Nijima-Senpai, what's with the sudden calling?"

Makoto took a few seconds to sigh, before looking at him directly. "Ichijou, have you heard of the crime happening in Shibuya?"

"Crime?" The persudo-detective tilted his head for a moment before nodding. "Yeah, about those scam and 'part-time job', right?"

"It is." The president answered with a nod. "We got some information concerning the crimes from our students." She explained. "I wanted to do something about it, but I can't..."

"So you want me to investigate that too?"

"Unfortunately, yes..." Makoto trailed off, giving him a saddened look. "Since your word about Kamoshida, I had asked the principal about the sexual harassment..."

"He evaded my question, and probably will not do anything on the crime as well." She continued. "Ichijou, can you help to find a lead or a name to find the group behind it?"

"But that's too dangerous..." Akira trailed off, furrowing his brow.

"I'll go to give that information to sister," The president answered, avoiding his worried gaze. "And if it was needed, I'll handle them myself."

Akira's frown deepened at her words, remembering Ren's small crush on her. "Please don't say that." He said. "You're only going to make the matter worse, for the school, your sister... and someone else."

"But if I don't do something-"

"I'll help you, for the second time." The persudo-detective said, interrupting her with a determined look. "And you never owe me on these two."

"I-Ichijou..." Makoto was speechless, and couldn't respond to his words. "T-thank you..."

"It's fine," Akira said, giving her a reassuring smile. "We can't just sit here and pretend there's nothing wrong, right?"

"Yes..."

"Well then... I'll try to find any lead on that front." He nodded, standing up and gave her another reassuring smile. "And I won't come back empty-handed, I promise."

* * *

And with that, chapter 28 concluded! Thank you for reading!

Now not only he's involved with Makoto's investigation to the PTs, now he's also dragged himself to the whole crime stuff early... Well, he kind of volunteered to do so... and we can't really blame him too much, people are suffering because of those crimes.

Reviews response:

**RosyMiranto18: **

**Yeah, after a week-long of pondering, Cendrillon would probably appear into the story. Just when is Kasumi going to get her, and will the others to get one as well.**

**Speaking of which, Kasumi hung out with Shinji, Rei, and Asuka because Rei was the first person she met in Shujin(And the only one she actually know), and Rei introduced her to Shinji and Asuka... And the four became friends.**

**As for IDBH, I'm now on the P3 flashback from Minako and oh boy, it's basically the entirety of P3. No wonder that it got to 2.4m words.**

**And for Okumura... yeah, he's destined to die, poor man(And Haru too). But with Akira's vision of future... Maybe, just maybe, Okumura will survive the gunshot, and ruin Shido's plan.**

I hope you guys like the story so far, review are welcome!


	29. Update: Rewrite

Well... I'm sorry for the long wait (especially when the result is disappointing).

So uh... This version of 'Persona 5: Another Thief' is discontinued.

However, I am going through a complete rewrite, following Royal's timeline and teases of Scramble.

It's basically two different stories with only some common elements.

For those who were waiting for the next chapter, I'm very sorry.


End file.
